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- 19 Jun, 2026
The Salvado Trail (failed FKT)
The Salvado Trail (also known as the Pilgrim Trail and the Camino Salvado) was inspired by the memory of Dom Rosendo Salvado, the Benedictine monk who founded the town of New Norcia in 1847. It covers 174km of urban and bush trails, starting at St Joseph's in Subiaco and finishing at the Benedictine Monastery in New Norcia. It traverses multiple national & regional parks, including Walyunga NP, Avon Valley NP, Moondyne Nature Reserve & Julimar State Forest. Over the past 10 years, I've had thoughts of running this trail end to end, having first becoming aware of it back in 2012 when Bernadette Benson blogged about her self-supported multi-day fast-hike. An idea started to form earlier this year that this would be a good way to motivate myself to rediscover my running groove (ahead of some European races in August & September). With the help of super-coach Rob Donkersloot (who himself has run this trail over multiple days, in both directions!), I rebuilt my fitness with some really solid training through April and the first half of May. Unfortunately, towards the end of May a few niggles started, including return of shin splints in my left leg, leading to a focus on rest & rehab. Then a very painful lower-back in the week prior had me questioning whether this would be possible, but thankfully that resolved itself just in time. I'd registered the route on the Fastest Known Times (FKT) website thinking that if I completed it I could claim the Fattest or First Known Time by being the first (that I'm aware of) to get in done in a single end to end effort. I'd driven most of the route over the previous couple of months and also run the first 42km in training, so felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Harmony very graciously offered to crew me through the journey, and I got the (not so) new Pajero all decked out for the trip. Subiaco to Bells Rapids (0-42km) I lucked out with it being the perfect day for a run, the sky was clear and the rain had gone away. But it was also the shortest day of the year and bloody cold! Well before the sun was up, I caught the train to Subiaco, just about freezing to death as I made my way from one line to the other in Perth. Arriving at Subiaco Square (adjacent to the starting point) a little earlier than anticipated I had some time to relax, snacking on a on a croissant and cappuccino in an attempt to get warm. I made my way over to St Joseph's, took a couple of photos inside and out, and got underway at 8.30am. The plan was to run on my own until ~42km, meeting super-crew Harmony at Bells Rapids. I had run this section back in early May as part of my training, but the scenery still blows me away. Making my way along the railway line until reaching the city, then following Hay St through the mall, passing St Georges Cathedral (by Royal Perth Hospital), through Wellington Square and the East Perth inlet. I then followed the northern riverside path through Maylands, Ashfield and Bassendean (where some impressive mcMansions can be seen!) Crossing the Swan River at Guildford Rd, then through Stiring Square and by St Matthew's Church, and heading onto West Swan Rd passing the Seminary Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo. From here, it's a long steady slog North before eventually turning East and crossing the river. Harmony and Juliet appeared unexpectedly which was a nice suprise! Had a quick chat, but wasn't in need of anything at the time. With the plan to meet up again at Bells, Harmony took Juliet off to school. After crossing Gt Northern Hwy, there was a long bitumen stretch parallel to the railway line before passing the horse at Brigadoon and onto Cathederal Ave into Bells Rapids. Harmony met me here, and I changed into trail shoes while grabbing a bag of cheezels. I was aware at this point that I'd become quite dehydrated over the previous 5h, but the impact of that hadn't quite caught up with me (I was still feeling pretty bouncy!) Bells Rapids to Shady Hills (42-55km) This is a lovely section of trails. From Bells, I followed the river until arriving at the first carpark in Walyunga National Park. It's only a few km, pretty flat but requires a fair bit of attention - having just run for 5h+ on bitumen, I took plenty of care to avoid tripping. We hadn't had a lot of rain in the previous week meaning this section was fairly dry, but had there been a lot of rainfall I would have needed to use the adjacent fire trail (which is really hilly). Nearing Walyunga, the trail had been dug up following the fires last December, and rather than being narrow and twisty there is now a wide fire break / trail to follow. I met Harmony at Walyunga and topped off my supplies. Then the fatigue really started to hit me here. Making my way through Walyunga meant a few decent hill climbs - these are hills that I'm really familiar with but I don't often find myself hitting them with 50km in the legs already. It was a struggle, and for the first time I started questioning my life choices! There was a lot of walking, even on the downhills, and I realised that I really needed to get some calories in. As I emerged into Shady Hills, Harmony was waiting for me on the roadside and made me a fabulous chicken and salad wrap. I probably should have had this back at Bells! Shady Hills to Avon Valley NP entry (55-70km) Leaving the bush tracks, this next section was a mix of bitumen road and horse trails. It's undulating, but very runnable until the final climb to AVNP: the elevation profile shows it being a gentle downhill until that last climb. If only my legs had been in the mood to run. It was a bit of a slog to be honest. The initial bitumen stretch through Shady Hills was quite busy with more cars than I'd expected (being late-afternoon, it was probably people coming home from work). Out of Shady Hills, it's onto a sandy bridle trail section - that was mostly runnable (ha), and was grateful that for the most part the sand wasn't too soft. Then, onto probably the only "bad" section of the entire trail with several km's of running on the roadside. It had been a frequent topic of conversation between myself and Harmony that this was a leg to be really cautious about. The sun was going down and it was getting late in the day, but as it turned out, I saw very few cars and had nothing to worry about! Harmony met me along here with a Macca's cheeseburger which I very graciously accepted (and then struggled, big time, to eat it). I still wasn't on top of my dehydration issue from earlier in the day, and was trying to drink as much water as I could. Reaching the bottom of the climb to AVNP, I took a break, changing my shirt and getting into some warmer clothing. By now the sun was down so on went the headtorch. I ditched my backpack and opted to run with a handheld bottle for a bit. Urgh --- that hill. It'd be a good one for training for Coast to Kosci! An unrelenting climb at around 10%, I was knackered. Fair to say I was grateful to get that done. I met Harmony half way up for a water top-up and again at the very top, where it was time for something warm to eat. It was time to say goodbye to the bitumen. By this point it was really dark and getting damn cold. Avon Vally NP (70-84km) The wheels unfortunately really started falling off through this section. Which is a shame - because it was super-runnable. This entire section is a nice wide 4wd dirt track full of puddles (requiring some caution at this time of year, some are deep!) Harmony met me every few km, where I'd sit down for a drink or something to eat. Mentally, I was struggling. Something about it being dark by 6pm made it seem like I'd been on my feet for much, much longer. I had managed to re-hydrate myself really well (perhaps too well), and was moving along slowly. After a few stops at the car, I was on the last ~3k section to the edge of the park when the shin pain decided to re-appear. It went from the occasional ping to "nah mate, you can't run on this" almost immediately. I kept trying to change it up from a walk to a shuffle, but the pain would return and I was immediately back in Spain last year when that adventure came to an end. I wasn't able to maintain enough movement to keep warm, and by the time I met up again with Harmony, decided it wasn't really worth pushing on further: we were around half-way, and while I could maybe have maintained a 5-6kph pace and got it done, I decided it wasn't worth taking the risk of a more significant injury ahead of adventures in Europe in a few months time. A little bit of a disappointing result, but such is life. I'll be back to try it again in the near future :-) In the end, I covered 85.37km in 12:47. A huge thanks to Harmony for accompanying me through the day.
- 30 Apr, 2025
TransEspana Day 4: Castejon de Valdejasa to Fuendejalon (61km)
A tougher day today. An extra 10km doesn’t sound like much, but it means an earlier start (6.30am today), an extra aid station, and a fair bit more sun exposure from being out longer. Leaving the sports hall in the pre-dawn, we formed a tango line along the long road, shuffling along, not really stretching out that much for the first section. I left with a thermal top under my shirt, thinking it was cold but that only lasted about 30min. I had to strip down to remove it (which proved entertaining for a few other runners, ooh la la!) I settled into an early walk/run routine, trying to temper my enthusiasm to move faster. Had a great chat with Thomas, who’s here for his fourth TransEspana event, and is the organiser of several events in Germany, including Deutschland Lauf – 18 days across Germany, a little longer than this race. Next edition 2026. Note to self to completely forget that conversation as soon as possible. We travelled mostly through farmland again today, quite a few pig farms too, the main change being that much of this land was irrigated, with viaducts criss-crossing through the fields and across the roads. It was interesting to see a number of fields that might have been growing rice (or something else very water-intensive) – many fields had been levelled out to create a stepped landscape. Still extremely green. Shortly before Aid 3, we went through a small town and passed a Pharmacy. Yay! I bought a couple of tubes and some after-care lotion. Cost a small fortune, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. The sunscreen I had been given was the spray-on-clear kind, which I’ve never felt all that great about (you just don’t know if you’ve got good coverage). It was great to get a decent application on, and honestly I just felt a lot of relief in knowing that my sunburn shouldn’t get any worse. It was fields, small towns, aid station, fields etc etc today. The aid station food is working well for me & I’m eating a lot of bananas. My plan is pretty much to just eat as much of everything as I can. I completed today in 8:17, with a target of 8:45. Maybe pushed the last leg a little harder than I needed to, but I’m also trying to ensure I can just keep in a nice slow running rhythm rather than get stuck doing long stretches of walking. Tomorrow it’s 75km. Same the day after, with targets of 11h and 12h15 respectively. I think we have a 6am start, so it’s going to be a tough couple of days without a lot of down-time. I may not post the next couple of days, R&R is more important. Starting to find a bit of a rhythm to this whole adventure.Wake 1h45m before the start, take pills & get dressed in my running gear start packing away my bedding etc, poo eat breakfast (available 1h15 before start) poo finish packing everything up poo & lube application run (the important bit … but doesn’t happen without all the other stuff!) finish find bags find accomodation (if sports hall, find a corner for myself and get bedding setup) shower (please let there be warm showers tomorrow, last two days it’s been cold brr) eat (there’s a “salad” after each day’s run, today it was potatoes, egg, veggies, with bread) have two Bix recovery drinks (really good for avoiding nighttime cramps) get organised for the next day (clothes ready, electrolyes etc, notes on course) do this internet stuff (if time permits) main meal (time varies). We’ve been fed really well so far. lie down to sleep stare at ceiling go to the loo stare more at the ceiling go to the loo eventually drift off (but loo at least two more times through the night, generally after being woken by snoring)
- 29 Apr, 2025
TransEspana Day 3: Ayerbe to Castejon de Valdejsa (51km)
Today was good. Slept really well last night (in a sports hall in Ayerbe) — there was a little bit of snoring, but I was just so darn tired I reckon I had 4 x 1.5h blocks of decent sleep. We were up at 5.30am, for a 6.15am breakfast and 7.30am departure. Breakfast was simple enough – coffee (served in bowls, I like these French ideas!), cereal, bread with butter & jam, and some fruit. We kicked off at 7.30, heading out of town and it was pretty much downhill 14.6km all the way to the first aid station. The road was a minor one (sealed), but not much traffic, and very straight. We were heading through farming country, with fields on both sides, and passed a couple of very small villages and farms along the way. Everyone seemed to be moving well, and I ran the majority of this first leg. The aid station was the usual fare, and I threw on my arm & neck sleeves, and applied some sunscreen (“borrowed” from one of the other participants). This leg was had some small, sharp, bumps but was generally downhill. We remained on the same road with fields left and right, and could see a wind farm coming up ahead. Through aid 2 at the 28km mark. After a right turn onto a smaller road, we made our way to aid 3. Generally uphill, but very runnable for the most part. As we approached aid 3, I passed a couple of guys, and there were maybe 3 or 4 people or just leaving the aid station. For reasons unknown, I’d had enough of looking at people in front of me, so went through this station very quickly (just grabbing bananas and muffins and chips), and went out rapidly. The course profile showed this leg as a steep uphill for about 7km, then downhill for 6. But it was quite runnable for the first 2.5k or so, and then I engaged “uphill walk mode” and powered up the hill. I was really enjoying this climb and didn’t want it to end — the views of the farmland and wind farm(s) were incredible as we got higher up, but all to soon it switched to downhill. I’d not seen any of those behind me for a while, but decided no-one was catching me and ran down the final 6.5km. Urgh. Into the finish line in 6:22, well ahead of the planned 7:07. Whoops. Might end up paying for that later. Note to self: take tomorrow super easy — we have 61km tomorrow, that looks like an easy descent to commence, and ascent at the end, nothing too steep. My plans have me really slowing down, which I will because following that it’s two days of 76km. We are starting tomorrow at 6.30am, not sure why but it’s likely a combination of “smart people will take longer” (per above), and maybe to give us more time to rest tomorrow night. Accomodation is again at a sports hall, this town looks really small – didn’t see any sign of shops on the way in. On arrival it was a cold communal shower (there was a fair bit of shrieking, it was so cold), then I washed the last three days of running gear and hung that out. Today’s post-run “salad” was a pasta salad, couscous and chicken drumsticks. Naturally, I ate a lot of the pasta. We have Apéritif’s at 6pm, dinner at 7pm, and then an early to-bed. Breakfast tomorrow is at 5.15, eeek!
- 28 Apr, 2025
TransEspana Day 2: Jaca to Ayerbe (60km)
Sunday night we stayed in a hostel, five to a room. The meal wasn’t anything to write home about, but I did eat two full serves (risotto, chicken drumsticks & salad). As the Europeans seem to do, it was a late meal (starting at 7.30), and once everyone had eaten it was pretty much straight to sleep. Because I was the last one there, I ended up on a top bunk, and found it nearly impossible to sleep: a combination of worrying about tossing & turning (thus disturbing the guy under me), the snoring (it was next level … not from me), and the guy under me getting up 5 or 6 times during the night for a toilet break (which was actually handy, as it gave me an opportunity to slip out of the bunk knowing that I wasn’t disturbing him). My earplugs are great, but, uncomfortable when lying on my side. And I can only sleep on my side … so yeh, I’d say maybe 3h sleep in total. Never mind – it seems to just be a thing for me, running when tired! We woke at 5.30, breakfast at 6.15, and then prepared for the 7.30am start. Clear skies and warm weather were forecast (8 degrees at the start, 21 for the end), so I left only wearing a shirt and carrying a rain jacket “just in case”. We started with a very brief downhill before a ~6km climb. The climb wasn’t as challenging as yesterday though, and I was able to maintain a reasonably good run/walk rhythm. We had some great views of the mountain behind Jaca, and then the view back to Jaca. From the summit, it was ~8km to the first aid station, all downhill, and other than stopping for photos it was all running (oh, and my first race-poo). The same fair at the aid station – fruit (bananas, watermelon), bread (with cheese spread, cheese spread & brie, cheese spread & sardines, cheese spread & tuna), mini-muffins, sandwiches and chips. I’m trying to consume as much fluid between aid stations as is practical, so fill up my two 600ml bottles and popping an electrolyte into one (or both), so it takes me a few minutes at each. We’d been in cool temps to this point, but I decided to throw on my arm sleeves and neck protector at this point, as yesterday I’d really suffered in the afternoon from sun exposure. Through to aid 2 at 30km it was all downhill, and I ran the whole way — not quick, but just kept turning the legs over. Through to aid 3, the views weren’t much to write home about, it was just left foot/right food shuffling along, a lot of twisty road, generally downhill but I’d settled into a good run/walk rythym at this point. And it was warming up. We were running alonside a river that had the most beautiful clear (blue/green) water, and it was continually filling, presumably because of the mountain streams on the other side. But other than that I was beginning to think “meh” regarding the scenery until we were about 2km from the aid station when the landscape really opened up. At this point I saw a bridge across the river, and a tunnel, disappearing into the mountains. I was really hoping that’s where we were headed … and yep! Just after the aid station, it was across the bridge, through the small tunnel, and onto a busier, narrower, twisty road that was rather undulating. Christian caught me up here and mentioned that there were some spectacular views to come, and my goodness was he right. There was this amazing mountain and rock face to our right (Punto Común), and then another 2km along Riglos came into view on our left. Absolutely mindblowingly spectacular. It loomed larger and larger as we continued on, and looks to be a very popular destination (rock climbing perhaps?) We were still following a river and had been thinking “that looks like it’d be awesome to raft along”, and sure enough just before aid 4 I spotted a bunch of rafts setting up to head downstream (the direction we were running). Over the next couple of kms, a few vehicles with rafts passed us, stacked high and weaving through the air — I worried at one point , when a vehicle swayed around the runner in front and then moved back into his lane, that the rafts might fall off and take me out. I’m still here, so I guess they didn’t (I might think back to this in a few days and wish they had!) Through aid 4, and it was just 10km left to end the day. At this point I saw our first olive trees (actually, might have been a little earlier), with the landscape changing, but still a number of fields filled with wheat (oats? barley? and canola crops that were just starting to flower. The green-ness was amazing. Christian was around 500m ahead of me, and I spent that 10km gradually chipping away at his lead until I caught up with him maybe 500m from the finish line. We ran to the end, and crossed the line, together. Overall, a great day. The body is still feeling good (though, it “feels” like I’ve just run a couple of ultras). In town, I tried to track down some sunscreen but the pharmacy and supermarket were shut because the whole town is without power, doh! I’ll see if one of the run-supporters, with a camper, can source me some tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll run in calf compression socks tomorrow to provide a little more protection for my legs. (update: have been able to “borrow” some sunscreen from one runner which will hopefully be enough until we hit the next decently-sized town) I had a planned target time of 8:30, and finished the day in 7:54 ; there was a lot more downhill (running) than I’d anticipated, and I made good use of the opportunity to just keep moving. Yet, I’m still near-enough to back of the pack, which is fine. Not here to win or set any records, I just want to ensure I can get up tomorrow and the day after and get those runs done. We had our first DNF today (“young” Tristan), and there’s a lot of people in the sports hall tonight moving around awkwardly. I just gotta stay nimble enough to keep on moving!
- 27 Apr, 2025
TransEspana Day 1: Urdos to Jaca (46km)
Wow, what a day. Everything I hope for, and more. My expectation was that this would be the day of snow-capped mountain vistas. I was not disappointed. After a 7am breakfast, everyone was fidgeting around getting ready for the 9am start (the only day to start so late, from here it’ll be 7.30 or 8.30 for the faster folks). The weather was as expected — cold and wet, so everyone was rugged up in their thermals and wearing rain jackets. It’s good to know that I wasn’t the only one slightly freaking out regarding the weather on day 1, but it turned out to be a non-event. We gathered in the town square for a very quick pre-race briefing, and the count-down to 9am went by quickly. And we were off. Starting with a quick lap around town (possibly the most exciting thing to happen in Urdos each year), we then hit the road for the long (1000m, 15km) climb to Col de Somport and the French/Spain border. It was a fairly steady climb, so it was just run-a-bit, walk-a-bit, and do whatever was necessary to maintain a good body temperature (run too much, it got hot, walk to much it got cold). It wasn’t so much rain as light drizzle — just enough to get the phone wet, but really not enough to otherwise worry us. There wasn’t much in the way of traffic to worry about, which was great, and I snapped dozens of photos every time the view changed. Then, about 200m before the first aid station (at Col de Somport) I looked up to see my first snow-capped mountain. MIND BLOWN. I’d been smiling a lot before this, but this really stretch my smile from ear to ear. There was a fair amount of low-level fog around the place so the views at this point weren’t perfect, but I wasn’t complaining. The first aid station (14.8km) was a welcome sight. Different to anything I’ve experienced before: yes, the usual oranges & bananas, but this one also had lindt ball chocolated, boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, chunks of brie on big chunks of bread, cheese sandwiches, and cheese/fish sandwiches. There was some salt next to the orange, and I was thinking “oh, they’re into the salted oranges thing”. But no, there were looks of surprise when I sprinkled on the salt! Pretty damn good tho. I left that aid station with Thomas & Nina, but they soon disappeared ’cause I kept stopping to take more photos. I didn’t spend a lot of time running with anyone, Thomas and I went back and forth throughout the rest of the day, and I saw one or two other runners, but I think I was so far towards back of pack all the action was unfolding out ahead. It was a very cruisy run down to Canfranc Estation (once the largest train station in Europe, it’s now a 5* hotel). I met Stephane who was taking some photos, and did a quick strip-down removing my heavy thermal. Just out of there, we left the road and joined the Canfranc trail … that was slightly harder going with a lot of rocks and quite a a bit of mud (which my road shoes weren’t particularly good for). A couple of kms further along was the second aid station (26.8km). I again stuffed my face with brie and eggs and potatoes, and dropped my jacket and thermal to lighten the load a little. From there it was trails, trails, trails. The downhill was replaced with steady ups and downs, easy enough going, and there was a nice wind to my back. We meandered along the river at times, and the big mountains were slowly replaced by meadows and lower hills. Lots of running on, or nearby, the Camino de Santiago (the Camino Aragones route). Just after aid 3 (35.6km) I came across a hiker (Xavier, from Spain) and had a good chat about his adventure. He had been following the Pyrenees route, but there was a bit too much soft snow and cold weather, so he’d decided to abort that and head for the lowlands. He had a good 800+km left to walk yet, but seemed to be loving it. Gotta say that doing a multi-day run on the Camino de Santiago sounds like a fun future destination! The last 10km from aid 3 followed some back roads, not a lot of great scenery to talk about here. It was just a matter of getting the day done, but doing it easy and not pushing myself too hard. I did feel a little short on energy through here — note to self: eat more at the aid stations. Into the town of Jaca for the finish line. We had to run through the whole town pretty much, and then finished at the bottom of a hill. Greeted by many smiling faces, and it was straight into a beer and some finish line food (which I thought was a meat dish, but no, it was fish… whoops). Had a chat with a few of the other runners, and then made my way to the hostel. It’s five to a room tonight, and ’cause I was last in I get a top bunk (apologies to the guy under me … I’ll be up and down all night!) I finished today in 6:26, my plan was for 6:30, so really happy with how that went. Tomorrow we have just under 60km planned, so a longer day for sure. Looking forward to a feed and (hopefully) a better night’s sleep tonight.
- 26 Apr, 2025
TransEspana
Tomorrow at 9am local (GMT+2), I set off with 23 other runners on a 1080km, 18 day journey, across Spain. Each day we’ll be covering between 45-76km, predominantly on the road, and lodging overnight in hostels and sports halls. There’s 10 more runners joining us for the first seven days, and a small army of volunteers and organisers taking care of us. I’ve been following this event since 2022, and in December ’23 expressed an interest to participate in the 2024 event only to learn that it wasn’t being held that year. As soon as entries opened for 2025 though, my application was in. Anxious. Scared. Terrified. Imposter. These are some of the many feelings I’ve had over the last days, weeks and months. I’m going into an event that has some of Europe’s best multi-day runners, and my experience is limited to a couple of back to back ultras. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but choosing an 18 day event, as the only native-English speaker, in a totally unfamiliar situation and knowing nobody, has seen me filled with doubt and worry. But, yeh, it’s just a run. Another ultra. I’ve trained for this, and all I have to do is get to the start line each morning, and to the next aid station, and then the next, all under cutoff (which is all based on a most generous 5.6kph minimum pace). I’ll try to do a daily post after each leg. With lots of photos (otherwise I’ll forget all of the details). There’ll also be updates on the event’s website & facebook page. Here goes nothing!
- 30 Dec, 2023
Mole 2 Mole
Glen & I wrapped up 2023 on the eve of NYE with one slightly wacky run: 100km between North & South Mole lighthouses in Fremantle. Separated by less than 500m at the entrance to Fremantle harbour, we chose to run a slightly longer route! Running through the night, we followed the waterways inland, crossing Canning River in Shelly and the Swan River at Garret Rd. Starting just after 4pm on Saturday afternoon, with views of the open water, and the North Mole lighthouse "just across the river". There was no real plan in terms of time or pace, and we were both carrying fairly minimal food and water - the idea was to take advantage of whatever shops or servos we came across during the night to keep us going. The route required following rivers and estuaries of Perth, staying on the South until crossing for the return from Garret Rd. It was pretty darn warm when we started, and the heat through the night was oppressive. There wasn't really any relief until about 3am. Many highlights, including random fireworks, marriage proposals and the world’s best cinnamon scrolls for breakfast (I'll never forget those scrolls ... we could smell them from about 500m away, our stomachs churned and we were blown away at just how good they were!) This one liner from Glen really summed up the whole adventure - less than 1km from the end he said “bloody lighthouse still isn’t any closer than when we started!” Definitely capped of a great year of running adventures with friends new and old. Excited for what 2024 may bring , and looking forward to being fast asleep when the clock strikes midnight.
- 06 Jun, 2023
Rain Jackets
This was originally written as a post on the A Run for the Ages Australia Facebook group immediately following the run on the weekend of June 3-5, 2023 Monday was a great opportunity to properly test out some rain gear (it rained, a lot!). I took three newish jackets with me for the weekend, all of which claim to be "waterproof and breathable". Thanks to the four storm-fronts experienced during Monday, I was able to compare them side by side in some pretty damp conditions: Jacket CostThe North Face Men's Anotora Jacket $150Macpac Men's Lightweight Prophet Rain Jacket $440Salomon Men's Bonatti Trail WP Jacket $198The Salomon Bonatti is your typical "mandatory" race rain jacket choice - seam sealed, lightweight, packs down to nothing. Super comfortable, feels very light on the body. Has "Pertex Shield" branding on it, Elastic at the waist and wrist, with a hood perfectly shaped to go over your cap, and an 'expandable back' section that lets you wear it over a running pack. I'd say this is a great jacket to carry when there's only a low to moderate chance of rain, and when you expect you'll be moving quickly all the time (and thus stay warm). However, it's not ideal for the multi-day adventures or heavy coniditions as it didn't really feel like it would hold the rain out forever. Being a super-light jacket, it doesn't do too much to stop the wind. The TNF Men's Anotora Jacket was magnificent in Monday's conditions. Waterproof, breathable, seam-sealed with a DryVent (TNF branding) shell, it provide substantial protection from the weather conditions. The hood was large enough to go over my cap, and I was able to close the head opening so that only my eyes, nose and mouth were uncovered. The wrists are elasticated, and there's a drawstring around the waist. Front zipper has a strip covering it. It's not the smallest of jackets to pack away, but it sure as heck kept me dry and warm, and was super-comfortable to wear -- you can push the sleeves up and pull 'em down to control body temp between storms, and it also ties neatly around your waist if you can't be bothered putting it away in a pack. When I was getting changed at the end of the event, I was completely dry under this jacket. Macpac Men's Lightweight Prophet. I had really high expectations for this jacket, it cost a small fortune, was lightweight, with claims of 20,000 hoo-hars of water proofing and breathability. And, tbh, it did a good job of keeping the rain out and keeping me cool. However, the hood felt like I was wearing an elephant on my head, and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to fit comfortably while running through the heavy wind and rain. The lightweight nature of the jacket meant it didn't really keep me warm like the TNF Antora. It used a velcro strip at the wrists, and had a drawstring at the waist, but neither were all that comfie to adjust. I'd say this is an excellent hiking jacket, and it'll replace my 25 year old Mountain Designs Goretex jacket for future multi-day hikes, but I won't be taking it running again.