{"id":12397,"date":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/12397\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","slug":"what-i-packed-to-run-80-miles-across-the-italian-apennine-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/12397\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Packed to Run 80 Miles Across the Italian Apennine Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer is right around the corner. We\u2019re headed out on adventures and bringing our stuff with us. Here are all the tech and tips<\/a> that WIRED Reviews recommends for your travels.<\/p>\n

In 2015, I ran the Marathon Des Sables<\/a>. You know, that race across the Sahara where people wear funny flappy sun hats<\/a> and gaiters, and carry everything they need to survive (except a tent) on their backs. A week spent battling the giant dunes and the blistering, dried up rocky river beds taught me an important lesson: It\u2019s possible to pack your life into a 10-lb pack and run big distances. It\u2019s also a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve embarked on many running adventures, including a 100-mile lap of Italy\u2019s Lake Garda and the 184 mile length of the River Thames. In 2022, I became the first person to run Europe\u2019s Danube river<\/a> from sea to source, 1,830 miles across eight countries in 67 days, always carrying my own kit. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time \u201ckit pratting\u201d, or obsessing over my ideal gear. I\u2019ve worked out what\u2019s essential (less than you might think), what\u2019s superfluous, and what I can trust.<\/p>\n

For my most recent excursion, I took on the Via Degli Day<\/a>, an 80 mile trail run across the Italian Apennines from Florence to Bologna (though most people hike from Bologna to Florence). On day one I ran around 24 miles, 26 miles on day two and 30 on day three, somewhere between 5-8 hours each day. Here\u2019s some of the essentials I packed to get me from Point A to Point B.<\/p>\n

The Running Shoes\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

The Diadora Nucleo 2 GR ($170)<\/a> is one of the new wave of gravel running shoes<\/a> that’s made to handle everything from road to light off-road trails. I encountered a lot of both on this run, along with more challenging trail sections. The big wedge of softish cushioning, shallower lugs, and wider base worked well on the harder-packed, clear and runnable terrain while the really nice roomy toe box was excellent for blister-free comfort.<\/p>\n

The Nucleo 2 GR is a bit heavy and struggled for precision, agility and stability on the more rock-strewn technical descents. But the grip worked surprisingly well (outside of some very muddy sections). Crucially, it\u2019s a protective shoe with a generous fit that\u2019s also easy to lace back on when it\u2019s time to forage for dinner once you\u2019re done running. That\u2019s important when you\u2019re only taking one pair of running shoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Running Watch\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Confession time: As a running gear tester, I had three sports watches<\/a> on the go. The Garmin Forerunner 570, the Forerunner 970<\/a>, and the Fenix 8 Pro 51 mm AMOLED. Of these, the Fenix 8 Pro<\/a> stood out as the top performer. It\u2019s expensive, but it\u2019s the ultimate tool for multi-day adventures<\/a> where you need multiple days of GPS staying power, reliable mapping and best-in-class routing, all on a big, easy-to-scan screen.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Photograph: Kieran Alger<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re running far off grid, the Fenix 8 Pro also offers back-up satellite safety tools like SOS Emergency, off-network messaging, and live tracking, though you\u2019ll need an inReach satellite subscription<\/a> to unlock some of those. I was pleasantly surprised by the Forerunner 970 which just about lasted the three days. It lacks the safety tools and the routing wasn\u2019t quite as on point as the Fenix 8 Pro, but for shorter runs of where you have access to charging, it\u2019s a decent option.<\/p>\n

Running Headphones<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t underestimate the morale boost from meaningful music or a well-timed chat with family (my Phone a Friend lifeline). So I always pack workout headphones<\/a>. The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 ($140)<\/a> bone conduction headphones<\/a>, or open ear styles<\/a> like the Shokz OpenDots ($160)<\/a>, are good for staying connected with the world around. But I often opt for headphones that also cater for the time in transit, or the flights and trains to get to the trails when I\u2019m not running.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer is right around the corner. We\u2019re headed out on adventures and bringing our stuff with us. Here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9096,9100,9099,9101,5,9098,9097,129,614],"class_list":{"0":"post-12397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-afk","9":"tag-apparel","10":"tag-buying-guides","11":"tag-fitness-trackers","12":"tag-italy","13":"tag-outdoors","14":"tag-running-shoes","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}