There’s one feature in the belt I haven’t told you about yet.
While designing the belt last summer, I had a realization in my own running: I hadn’t been taking in enough salt.
The problem? The Ziploc baggie full of white pills trail runners carry is inconvenient. Those bags always seem to make their way deep into the corners of a belt or pack. Two or three hours into a long run, I never had the energy to figure out where that small baggie ended up.
Not to mention the process of opening the bag with one hand and my teeth while the other hand held a flask of water to wash everything down… a dance that didn’t work unless I was nearly stopped.
Needless to say, while I was packing enough electrolytes for my runs, I never actually took what I planned. It was just too much work.
Conveniently, the belt had one area that needed an extra layer of fabric.
It turned out to be the perfect place to hide a pocket—one lined with waterproof fabric that could hold salt pills.
No Ziploc in sight.
No chasing bags into corners you didn’t know existed.
No doing the electrolyte / baggie / bottle dance.
One hand grabs a pill from the pocket, the other grabs the flask—no slowdown required.
If you’re not a salty sweater, that pocket becomes a great place to store empty gel wrappers (goodbye, sugar-covered phone), loose pick-me-up candy, or car keys you want separated from the rest of your gear. And on runs where you’re going light, the pocket nearly disappears.
Decision fatigue late in a long run or ultra can lead you to make choices you wouldn’t make in hour one—like skipping that salt pill or slowing down your hydration. Going light with a belt doesn’t mean you have to struggle to make the right decisions when the running gets tough.
Also, good news: belts leave the factory in less than three weeks.
Thank you for being here.
Morgan
Founder, Dera Running