Race attire for a half marathon in coldish weather

30 is a little different than 40.

At 30 degrees, I would wear tights, a long sleeved poly pro top with either a single or a short sleeved poly pro tee on top of it, and a pair of cheap painters gloves that you can throw away if need be. I certainly would NOT wear a shell of any sort. Before I'd do that, I'd wear a cotton or wool hat.

At 40 degrees, I'd wear shorts, the same long-short sleeve poly pro combination, and probably gloves, but I'd definitely get ready to throw the gloves away. You won't need a hat at 40 degrees, but if you wear one, wear synthetic, not wool. Wool will be too warm.

I ran a 10-mile race in 17 degree weather one January. I wore tights, three longsleeve polypro shirts, lined gloves, and some sort of hat. No shell. I ran it around the pace you'll be running if you run 1:30.

I've never ran a half-marathon before, but for my high-school 5Ks we're told to dress for a race like it will be at least 20 degrees warmer than it actually is. So for a 30 degree race, dress like it's 50 out. I've done that before, even with freezing rain, and run a PR. I don't know if that will have the same affect for the longer, slower distance.

I realize that you're saying the weather will probably be 30 at the start and 40 at the finish. So......you could get by in shorts, even at 30, but you'll want gloves, hat, and at least the short/longsleeved combo of two shirts. You'll be a little cold for the first mile or two but you will warm up, and the weather will warm up.

If there's any wind at all, though, I'd probably wear tights.

KudzuRunner wrote:

30 is a little different than 40.

At 30 degrees, I would wear tights, a long sleeved poly pro top with either a single.....

I meant to say "singlet."

Will the sun be out? That's a big factor!

I've used this RW tool for forever and it's helpful:

https://www.runnersworld.com/what-to-wear

In addition to temperature, it considers tie of day, wind, rain, etc.

This is the order I cover my body depending on the temperature (of course 1 and 2 are always covered):

1) Torso (top and bottoms)

2) Feet (shoes and socks)

3) Hands (gloves)

4) Head/Ears (hat or ear warmers)

5) Arms (long sleeves or arm warmers)

6) Partial Legs (capris)

7) Full Legs (tights)

That said, what I wear for racing is much less than what I wear training. I've never gotten colder as the race went on, just warmer. I especially don't want to wear too much that I'll have to take off during a long race like a half or full marathon. If it was me, I'd run a ~1 mile warmup beforehand with full tights, jacket, etc, but take all that off at the start about 5-10 minutes before the gun. I'd wear a singlet, shorts, gloves and ear warmers (plus shoes of course). I might wear arm warmers. The ear warmers, gloves and arm warmers are easy to remove and stash mid-race than a jacket or something would be. You'll be cold after the race in sweaty clothes, so be sure to have a dry change of clothes ready ASAP for after the race.

Tx is right but for one detail. Go with bun huggers. Not shorts. Bun huggers.

The race is short enough that you won't get colder as you run (unless there's a stiff headwind the entire time). Make sure you start warm. I race a lot in the cold up north here, and I always wear a lot of disposable layers right up until the gun goes off. Shedding clothing once you start running is a waste of time. At 30F, I'm in shorts and short sleeve tech shirt and gloves. At 40F, I'm in shorts and singlet.

Good luck!

Shorts, short sleeve base layer, singlet, arm warmers, gloves and running (brimmed) hat - if it’s closer to 30 at the start with an ear band underneath, if it’s closer to 40 at the start then nothing on the ears. As you warm up you can pull down the arm warmers (if you wear a long sleeve shirt and warm up then you’re stuck feeling too hot), and fold up or take off the ear band off from under the hat (easy to wrap around wrist if you take it off). * I’m also female. You may be cold for a mile at most, but then will heat up very fast.