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What should I pay attention to when participating in a cross-country race?

參加越野賽在裝備上要注意什麼?

Frankie Tse |

For more than a year, Hong Kong friends have basically been unable to go abroad to participate in any cross-country races. However, overseas, Japan and Taiwan have cross-country races being held. We must prepare for training. After the entry and exit restrictions are eased around the world, the store manager will Immediately fly out and participate in overseas cross-country races✈️✈️✈️

What should I pay attention to when I go to a foreign cross-country race? Today, the store manager will share with you

I will share the equipment with you

  1. Preparation before departure
  2. Overseas off-road equipment

1. Preparation before departure

The first thing to do, of course, is to understand the mandatory equipment for the off-road race you are participating in.

All mandatory equipment must be prepared. Because most off-road competitions abroad or in China strictly carry out equipment inspections, everyone does not want to go to the local area to purchase equipment first, which is generally more expensive than Hong Kong and may not fit.

Due to the local weather, appropriate adjustments should be made to the equipment. If you go to a cold place to compete, the store manager will suggest that you need to bring more cold clothes than the mandatory equipment to participate in the competition, especially the hands, neck and head to keep warm. , Because everyone may not be able to easily adapt to the weather in the local mountains, it is necessary to strengthen the warmth.

In addition, it is best to bring an extra set of equipment with different weather conditions as backup, because the weather of overseas cross-country races can change greatly, and the temperature of the competition can vary by more than 20 degrees every year, and not every overseas competition venue or nearby will have enough. The cyclocross gear you can buy locally.

The store manager tried to compete in Lavaredo, Italy in 2019, but encountered a heat wave in Europe. The temperature on the day of the game was almost 40 degrees.

In 2017, it snowed heavily on Mount Siguniang the night before the competition, and the store manager who did not prepare crampons ended up in DNF.

Everyone needs to refer to the weather of the past few years and the weather forecast of the past years. It is best to learn about the equipment required for the local competition with Hong Kong friends who have participated in the same cross-country competition before.

When practicing in Hong Kong, it is best to have several long classes with full pair of competition equipment for weight-bearing practice. The advantage is that you can familiarize yourself with equipment placement and simulated competition weight-bearing. Remember to participate in overseas cross-country races without or without support Friends are always there to support/accompany you/help you carry your weight. You must ensure that you have the ability to carry all the equipment yourself.

You can make good use of ziplock or even vacuum compression bags to reduce storage space, and use the small universe to reduce all kinds of mandatory equipment to the smallest volume.

Every runner wants to reduce weight on equipment, but it is only limited to the quality of the product. When you buy better quality equipment, the weight of the equipment will naturally be reduced. Do not steal lightly, especially on warm clothes. When you feel unwell or have an accident during an overseas cross-country race, it may take several hours for the conference or rescue personnel to reach your location. When you stop due to injuries On the mountain, the body temperature will keep losing, and more clothes will be needed to keep warm than when running, so the mandatory equipment must be brought along.

The preparation before departure is almost the same with everyone. Finally, I would like to mention to everyone that the mandatory equipment actually required for each game will be different. Everyone remember to pay attention to the content of the mandatory equipment on the competition website. There are many times in the same cross-country race that the mandatory equipment content is required every year. There will be updates.

2. Overseas off-road equipment

I will share with you the points that you need to pay attention to when you pack your luggage and the equipment on the day of the competition. The store manager Zhong You has his own experience in preparing the equipment when he goes overseas to participate in the competition.

A week or so before the competition, there will often be updates on the last equipment and weather reminders on the competition website, facebook or email. You can pack your bags according to the weather on the day of the competition and the mandatory equipment of the conference.

When packing, the store manager is accustomed to refer to the mandatory equipment table of the conference, and put all the equipment together to ensure that you will not forget the official equipment when you set off. In addition, all the competition clothes and equipment will be put in the hand luggage with you, except for the trekking poles. Outside (because trekking poles cannot be placed in hand luggage), to ensure that the equipment will not be affected by the loss or error of flight luggage Repurchase equipment and ask fellow runners to complete the equipment before they can leave the race

Many times, when participating in cross-country races in foreign countries or in China, equipment inspection is already required when taking out the bib number. Don’t think that after one equipment inspection, you can take out the mandatory equipment according to your personal needs. Before starting, the mandatory equipment will be checked one more time before you can start the race. In addition, in many competitions, your mandatory equipment will be checked again in the middle. In the UTMF competition, a Hong Kong runner put down the waterproof pants in the middle bag, but at the A8 checkpoint, they were checked by the equipment and found that there were no waterproof pants. He was stopped by the staff of the conference to cut the tape and failed to finish the game.

In the long-distance cross-country races, there are often halfway luggage bags. I would recommend that you put an extra set of complete equipment in the halfway luggage bag, because it is difficult to ensure that the equipment will be worn out during the long-distance races, and at the same time change a complete set of clothes in the middle of the race. It will give you a new feeling. The store manager suggested that the luggage bag can be put in anti-wear products / backup energy food / backup headlight battery / some emergency medicines (for example: painkillers, gastrointestinal medicines, anti-sickness medicines)

When you go to some large-scale trail running competitions, there will be a lot of new equipment for you to buy at the venue. If you want to buy and use it immediately, remember to pay attention to whether the equipment meets the specifications of the conference. For example: waterproof jacket, remember to check the jacket clearly waterproof and with or without waterproof zipper

Finally, the store manager has some personal tips for overseas competitions. When competing in cold places, I will pay the most attention to gloves and neck warmth, because Hong Kong people are generally more afraid of freezing, and fingers are the most prone to frostbite. Mandatory equipment plus an extra pair of thermal gloves. In addition, keeping the neck warm is very important. If you are not used to the cold temperature during the competition, the trachea will be constricted, which will affect the performance of the competition. The store manager will suggest that you go to the local area one to two days early to adapt to the temperature and test road conditions, and then decide on the equipment to wear on the day of the competition.

I hope that the entry and exit restrictions will be relaxed soon, and everyone can go out to participate in cross-country races together. I hope to help everyone in overseas competitions to reduce the impact of equipment problems on the performance of the competition.