The Ed & Phil business sells products into running, outdoor and general sports shops and we wanted to avoid appearing to promote those products on this website, which aims to provide useful information to ultra runners and aspiring ultra runners. However many people have asked us to let them know what we wear and what equipment we use, so here it is.

SHOES

Shoes are an incredibly individual thing; your choice depends on running style, biomechanical problems, or lack of, build, the type of running you do etc.

Phil's shoe of choice for muddy off-road runs is the UK Gear XC-09 whereas Ed prefers the UK Gear PT-1000 Road & Trail Shoe - Neutral Cushioning because he can use these to go anywhere. He used the PT-03 Desert shoe in the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon and raves about them. He is very keen to try a pair of Hoka shoes in the desert as he believes the larger footprint may help in the sandy sections.

SOCKS

Both Ed and Phil are evangelical about socks; in an ultra good technical socks do make a difference. It amazing how many people spend a lot of money on shoes, kit and gels then wear cheap socks and wonder why they get bad blisters. You would not spend loads of money on a Ferrari then fit remoulds so why short change yor feet?

Phil uses ToeToe running socks with Wigwam Trail Trax on top for long stuff, particularly in the cold and wet. Ed normally just wears Wigwam Terrain Trax Pro, but in desert conditions he will wear ToeToe liner socks with Wigwam Trail Trax on top. Seems counterintuitive, but they both wick well and keep the feet dry, which is important in multi-day desert races.

SHORTS/LEGGINGS

No particular favourites here, however we would recommend leggings on unfamiliar routes in case you encounter stinging nettles. When it's hot Ed wears X-bionic pants under his shorts; keeps things cool and stops chaffing.

SHIRTS/TOPS

No particular favourites here either. On long runs where weather can change technical tops are better than cotton t-shirts and merino stuff does prevent you from smelling rather unpleasant.

WATERPROOFS

We don't think you actually want something that is totally waterproof as it will not breathe and you get just as wet from the sweat you generate as you will do from rain. Something that is windproof, nearly waterproof and breathable is ideal. Ed and Phil both like the EDZ Epic jacket.

For a light weight windproof both use the EDZ Ultrashell.

EDZ's thermal layering range was tested by Ed and Phil in the Arctic during the 6633ultra.

HEADTORCHES

Two recommendations:

Cheap, but effective except in more testing conditions. Silverpoint Runner Head Torch.

More power and good battery life for difficult conditions LED Lenser H14.

RUCKSACKS

Choice here depends on what sort of events you are doing and your personal preferences. Ed uses a Lowe Alpine pack he's had for ages and it has see action in the Marathon des Sables, the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (5 times) the 6633ultra, Al Andalus Ultimate Trail and numerous smaller events. He also uses a 5-litre Raidlight pack for day races where necessary.

For his multi-day race and a few others events Phil chose an Aarn Marathon 33 bodypack for its lightness.

We'll post more stuff here when we think of it. If you cannot find the gear in your local sports or outdoor shop some of it is in the Ed & Phil website shop.