39 replies to this topic

[Snailpowered]

There have been a few anecdotal stories of New York marathon runners suffering from heat exhaustion, after trying to run wearing hats donated by sponsors.

A large amount of heat is lost from our heads, so a hat in cool weather may be helpful in keeping one warmer.

But in hot weather, a hat may help overheat us, even though we need some sort of shade for the eyes and face.

Also, those who are overweight should take even more care in the heat, as fat acts as an insulator and can hinder the transfer of heat away from the body's core.

May not be a good idea to eat a lot of food on a hot day, as during exercise, only about 45 per cent of the energy contained in food recently consumed is converted into energy for working muscles. The other 55 per cent of this energy is converted into heat which has to go somewhere. So if you eat a lot, you may make it more difficult to stay cool.

Has anyone had problems with hats on hot summer days ?

[tim]

then you have to think about getting too much sun exposure and skin cancer. Although I have noticed that my lips and chin are often exposed to the sun even with a cap on.

[Lilly Legs]

I nearly always wear a hat. Yes, they can hold heat on your head, but obviously wearing a coolmax or dri-fit type running hat is a lot different to some thick weave giveaway/promotion hat.

Needless to say, splashing some water on the hat helps, and some races even hand out ice that you can use your hat to hold on your head.

On a hot sunny day, I'd much rather wear a hat that I can keep wet with water than let the sun burn directly on my head.

[Gronk]

I have a white Brooks mesh cap for the hot runs. Like everything Brooks, top notch. Good sun protection but no cooked brain cells.

Kayano black lycra for winter which keeps me warm & sorta dry.

The newest addition is a CR cap for the important days.

To be honest, I ran the other morning capless and the sweat stung my eyes. So my caps mop up my brow for me as well.

Gronk

[Professor]

I played golf at the Banyan Tree golf resort in Phuket in Thailand a couple of years ago. For the green fee price, + 500 baht more (about $20 from memory) you got not one, but two caddies. One to carry the clubs, and one to carry an umbrella over the top of you all the way around to shelter you from the sun. How good is that!

Now being, well, lets just say Vatman and I have alot in common, I can't run about 11 months a year without a cap. Unless of course I could find a Thai wanting to earn 500 baht for a couple of hours work...

Hey, I'm not fast, but a run will be quicker than a round of golf!

Prof

[undercover brother]

used to hate hats.
never used to wear them.
always felt hot in them.
wore a visor and/or hankerchief attachment a few times in particularly hot races.
bought a proper running hat with the mesh and just luv it now.
need to find/make one with those little pockets for the ice.

definately don't have a problem with excess fat.

[wobbly man]

Never run without one (even at night) - Running hats in Summer (mesh type), promotional/giveaway ones in Winter and CR cap for special occassions. :D

[TRAVY]

i took of my CR hat at the 22km mark of last year Goldcoast marathon and at the 23 km mark i could feel i was hotter . the hat was like a air conditioner on my head. But that is a CR hat not one of the others, they are crap and hot.

[clairie]

I always wear a hat.

Yes it CAN cause you to overheat but I am aware of this and often will wet my hat or take it off for a few metres to cool me down.

I prefer wearing a visor, but as I have black hair it attracts the sun and can actually 'scorch' my head so that I feel my head burning! :)

So the hat stays!

[run4miles]

sure have, eventhough my hat is one of those climalite ones. Discovered this by accident as my hat flew off on Sundial Bridge, Gold Coast. I felt so much better with it off!!
The only problem is to get the mix of too much sun on your head and loosing heat from your head right.
Might try a sunshade instead. Has anybody found a sunshade that doesn't dig into the side of your head and cause a headache?

[vat]

I'm balding severely and keep my hair between a zero and a two. I really need to wear a hat.

Good place to put ice though.

[RunSammieRun]

I always wear a hat when I run regardless of the weather or what time of day it is. My main reason for this is that I have long hair and I am able to tuck my ponytail under the hat so that the back of my neck doesn't get too hot. It also is an important part of sun protection on a sunny day.

In summer I wear a white dri-fit hat so that it reflects the heat and in winter I wear a navy blue dri-fit hat so that it absorbs the heat.

Hats are also good in the rain as they help to keep the raindrops out of your eyes.

[moby]

Like others I never run without a cap. Currently have a Nike dryfit one and although it's black I never feel as though it holds excessive heat. Definitely need to keep the sun off the shaved head and have something to help stop the sweat running into my eyes. In fact sweating so much might help to keep cool with airflow over the top of the cap whilst being sunsmart as well.

[RunDave]

I think an interesting point is that a hat holds your hair down against your scalp thus eliminating a layer of air around your head. This increases conductivity, thus allowing increased heat loss from your head. On the down side, you don't get that feeling of wind blowing through your hair (if you have any :D ) so I'm not sure what the trade-off is.

I have long hair and I'm sure most of the girls out there will agree with me that on a hot day it always feels cooler having your hair up in a pony-tail than wearing it down.

On the subject of CR hats, I reckon they could be slightly improved by making them entirely out of that cool mesh and do away with the blue material (not sure what you call that). They are still one of the best around due to their extremely comfortable "soft" fit.

[SlowDave]

A hat is almost safety equipment for me. Without it soaking up the sweat my eyes get mreo and more sore to the point where I can barely open them. Closed eyes = run into light poles (not that I ever did but came close a couple of times)

SlowDave

[tim]

plus at night you can dip the peak to block out car head lights. Especially useful where there are no street lights.

[Bellthorpe]

I seldom run without a cap. In the sun, for the shade, obviously. In the rain, to keep the rain off my face. That's a major factor to comfort in the rain, I find.

[IRONBEE]

"The Bee" always wears a hat (black at that!). But I'm very aware of the heat factors and make sure plenty of fluids go inside and outside the body. At Ironman WA, the aid stations had ice. As previously mentioned, ice under the hat works a treat :D I don't really want to try and sew my antenna onto my scalp, so the hat is gonna stay.

[Mister G]

Always wear a mesh cap, but in particularly hot weather events (eg Glasshouse) I wear an Ice Cap I purchased at Western States. It has a mesh lined zip pocket on top of the head where you can put some ice cubes. Very effective way of cooling. I've also put ice cubes in bandannas or towels and tied them round my neck or shoulders. Seems to work.

[JC]

Always wear a lightweight cap in the sun or rain, and I'm considering starting to wear one evenings as well to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

As others mentioned, caps can get a bit warm, so maybe I'll investigate that CR visor?

[Kato]

On Saturday night I "did a Kelvin" and wore a sweatband, as I have been getting increasingly frustrated by mid-run blindness. It was worth its weight in gold. I have found of late that my head is cooking under a white Nike mesh cap, even though I share my drinking water with it. I wear them in winter no worries, but in summer it is just too much.

[Eagle]

I always wear a hat - sometimes it hot weather it feels as if heat is trapped in but if I take it of few a few seconds it releases the heat. I could not run without a hot as the alternative would be a burnt for frozen head. Anyway with a Coolrunning cap the overheating is not a great problem and what better way to advertise the cause.
B)

[Obi-Wan]

I like to wear my CR cap but have never experienced any problems with getting too hot and as most of you know I live in a pretty hot place. ;) Also great for wearing in the rain and at night.

I wouldn't mind trying a sweat band after seeing Kelvin pass my a few years ago at a VRR run but have no idea where you get them from.

[Snailpowered]

Great replies everyone, thanks very much, I have learned a lot from all the detail you have provided.

[casper]

Have run with a cap day and night for I don't know how many years, but in this latest humidity I have dumped it for the long runs.

[knight60]

For an alternate view....

I've tried wearing hats many times. Other than the two months during magpie season, they're not for me. I just can't stand the feeling of it on my head. A hat definitely makes me fel hotter. I do 90% of my running very early in the morning, and (luckily) have a good cover of hair, so it just seems like unnecessary equipment. I prefer the feeling of wind through my hair (no. 2 cut!!) ;)

[red rover]

I'm with you knight60, never worn a hat, to me it would get in the way, the peak over my eyes bouncing up and down as you run would annoy the crap out of me.I like to have the sun,wind and the rain on the head and in the face,it makes you feel alive I think some people are too used to the air-conditioning.I have a no.1 all over and the sun has never cooked the brain or done any of the other things it's supposed to do. I like to everything a la natural like it was meant to be.

[Bandanna]

Guess what I use :D :D

Personally, I find wearing caps/hats just too uncomfortably hot.

Last two 30km STaR runs (Dee Why and Berowra) were relatively high in humidity and heat - so took a spare dry and clean bandanna with me, and which I put on after about 15km.

Apply sunscreen before a run, so don't tend to get sunburned.

Each to their own I suppose - whatever works best for you.

[lezan]

I also don't use a hat and not intending to as long as there is some hair on my scull. There are only two exceptions. In the winter, when the temperaturs drops below ) early in the morning I use Nike lycra beanie. This year also, after one inconsiderate magpie drew blood in a succesful attack I started to wear my hat (back to front to protect my neck). It stays on my head only while I'm running through the bombing zone, and it's off straight after because I found running in it hot and uncomfortable.

[shuffle_run]

I like my CR hat - its not too 'hot' and keeps the sweat from stinging my eyes. Of course I'm just dying to get spotted in it! B)

[expozay]

I don't know how anyone runs without a hat. It keeps rain, sun and hair out of my eyes. It seems to keep my head cooler than having the sun shine directly on it in summer, and keeps the heat trapped in winter, thus I stay warmer.

Plus, it feels great when I wet it on long runs.

I just can't do without it.

[Consistent1]

For all those runners bothered by sweat in their eyes whether with or without hat, try a thin line of vaseline over the eyebrows and slighty beyond. It channels away the sweat like a dream. This is very useful if you've put sunscreen on your forehead, which inevitably adds to the mix of sweat.

For me I wear a Nike mesh cap hat most time and the CR cap for special occasions.

Consistent1

[Bellthorpe]

Thanks for the vaseline tip. I'll try that tomorrow and report back.

[sailaway]

I wear a cool mesh cap as well as a bandanna. If it gets a bit hot I just take the cap off for a while and the bandanna stops the sweat from getting into my eyes. As an added bonus, I use the bandanna at the end of the run to sponge my self if there's a tap around or soak the bandanna in water and place it around the neck to cool me down. ;)

[queen_bee]

When I first started running 10km races I was 10kg heavier than I am now and originally wore a cloth 'promo' hat. I definitely had loads of trouble with heat reduction and more importantly breathing. I found my hands would swell and speed was entirely elusive no matter how well prepared I thought I was.

I was given my trusty mesh/drifit hat as a present, lost 10kgs, and also avoid wearing any running clothes that go high up toward my neck. The CR crop top is great for this...

What were the results? Well, it could be a combination of all three things, and doing Timbrell Park reps... but my most recent 10km time took a 6 minute dive - a pb of 46:58. My heart rate has definitely dropped considerably also - in general on a cruisy run by about 30bpm.

Am I happy? You bet!

[Slow'n steady]

I wear a billabong visor and I love it! It keeps my head cool but also provides shading of my face and eyes when I run. I also find its an absolute must to wear a hat because I have shorter hair.

[Bellthorpe]

[indent]quote:

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Originally posted by Consistent1:
For all those runners bothered by sweat in their eyes whether with or without hat, try a thin line of vaseline over the eyebrows and slighty beyond. It channels away the sweat like a dream.

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[/indent]I tried that this morning. Regrettably, it didn't make any difference to the amount of sweat running into my eyes. It just rolled over the vaseline, and carried on down!

[Consistent1]

Bellthorpe, it might be worth experimenting with exactly how much vaseline you need on your eyebrows. I've used this trick as a footballer, umpire, marathoner and triathlete (in fact any sport where I might work up a sweat) and also put many others onto it with many a compliment. It's also worth remembering to apply some vaseline to anything that's likely to chaff on those longer runs. No explanation required.

Consistent1 (occasionally smeared in vaseline)

[Bellthorpe]

Taking your last comment first, I'm a great advocate, here and elsewhere, of the use of Vaseline. I continue to argue its use against the more expensive BodyGlide.

I'll certainly try different quantities, I'd like to think that you've put me onto a good trick to keep sweat out of my eyes ...