
REGULATION TOQUE
Smartwool Merino Sport Fleece Beanie
$$ mid-range within winter gear
You lose a startling amount of heat through an uncovered head, and you gain a startling amount of sweat under the wrong hat. A thin merino toque handles both: warm at the start, not a swamp by kilometre eight. This is the one item where the Canadian-English word is simply correct and we will not be taking questions.
Best for: every run from November through March
See price & details on Amazon.ca →Current price, sizes, flavours and full specs live on the Amazon listing.
Worth knowing about winter gear
- Cotton kills the vibe: it soaks up sweat, holds it against your skin, and turns kilometre six into a refrigeration experiment — merino or synthetic, always.
- Traction is for ice, not snow: fresh snow just needs your normal shoes and lower expectations, but the shiny grey stuff needs spikes.
- A headlamp beats reflective-only: reflective gear needs a driver's headlights to work, while a headlamp is visible from every angle and shows you the ice first.
- The treadmill isn't cheating: when it's freezing rain on glare ice, the runner who lives to train tomorrow wins — save the heroics for race day.
Also in winter gear
Kahtoola NANOspikesICE, SOLVED
Yaktrax Run Traction CleatsTHE GATEWAY SPIKES
Kahtoola MICROspikesFOR THE DEEP STUFF
Smartwool Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer CrewTHE -20 UNIFORM
Icebreaker 200 Oasis Long Sleeve CrewMERINO, OTHER FLAG
Craft ADV Essence TightsLEGS, INSULATEDAs an Amazon Associate, RaceFinder earns from qualifying purchases made through links on this page. It doesn't change the price you pay, and it has never changed a pick.