A popular running phrase goes: Winter miles = summer smiles.
But as important as base training over winter is, you can just have summer smiles. There’s nothing quite like running in the sun. And it certainly beats running in the cold, dark, rainy British winter (I’m sorry February, but I don’t miss you).
If it’s sunny out and it’s summer, chances are it’s also hot. Running in the heat brings its own challenges. Just ask anyone who ran the London Marathon this year. Strava data showed that over half of runners “bonked” — meaning in this case, a slowdown of 10 per cent or more in the second half of the race. Partly this was because the relatively hot temperatures (plus the lack of cooling breeze) meant runners really suffered.
When the going gets hot, you need to adapt. One way to do that is by making sure you have the right gear, both to wear and to consume.
What to look for in clothing
Lightweight, moisture-wicking fabrics should be your first port of call. Moisture-wicking clothing has been a godsend for sports (cotton gets very heavy when wet), and they’re in their element when the temperature rises. Once you’ve confirmed that, look for fits that are light on the skin and ideally light in colour so they don’t draw too much heat.
Less is more, too. When it comes to shorts, especially, the less fabric you have covering you, the better for feeling comfortable in the heat. This runs up against the problem of feeling uncomfortable in short inseams. It’s all about finding a balance that works for you. If you’re feeling a little shy, though, try to recall what the last three people you saw running were wearing. Surprisingly hard, isn’t it? That’s because most people don’t really register what others are wearing — which is a boon if you’re worrying about a short cut.
Sunglasses and hats are also a major help. Sunglasses with UV protection reduce glare, and hats block out the sun. Manufacturers have developed some seriously lightweight products, too, which is again a major help when trying to stay cool and comfortable.
What to look for in hydration
Water? Simply not good enough. Harrumph. While that’s not quite true (water is more than sufficient, obviously), electrolytes can be a major help in the heat. They help you replenish salt lost in sweating and also may prevent painful cramping. You’re looking, unsurprisingly, to drink before and after — and possibly during, depending on the length of your run. I tend to think of electrolytes as concentrated water — they do a similar job, just very efficiently. Others would argue they do a lot more than just water does, but either way, they’re a handy thing to have in your arsenal for when it’s hot out.
That said, it’s the clothing and apparel that will be your first port of call.
Best gear for running in hot weather at a glance:
- Best t-shirt: Soar Hot Weather T, £90
- Best vest: Adidas Adizero Roads to Records, £65
- Best shorts: Tracksmith Twilight Split Shorts, £60
- Best half-tights: Saysky Combat Rib Tights, £85
- Best shorts for style: Janji 5” AFO Middle Short, £60
- Best sunglasses: Oakley Radar Plate, £191
- Best hat: Ciele GOCap Field, £35
- Best suntan: Pelotan Protect and Recover Bundle, £38.70
- Best electrolytes: Precision Hydration, £8.99
- Best belt: North Face Summit Run Belt, £35
- Best arm sleeves: Nike Dri-FIT Lightweight Sleeves 2.0, £16.49
Shop the best kit for running in hot weather below
Tracksmith Twilight Split Shorts
For classic style, it’s hard to beat these from Tracksmith. They look beautiful with the dark colours and elegant cream trim. They really do the job, too. The fabric is light and soft, so much so that you barely notice you’re wearing them. I tried them on particularly hot days, and they were more than up to the task.
What pushes them into the top category, though, is their ample storage. Three separate pockets within the lining store phone and keys with ease. Not all shorts manage to make storage look so easy or comfortable, so that’s a major plus point. And, as already mentioned, they keep you cool as can be. So it’s win-win.
Buy now £60.00, Tracksmith
Adidas Roads to Records Tank Top
As good as t-shirts can be, there’s no item of clothing as freeing to run in as a tank top. This Adidas number is lightweight and stylish and has silicone grippers artfully positioned to make sure it stays in place. When you start running, you can feel the fabric melt away as if it weren’t there.
It’s an ideal fix for training runs and races when you really want to feel as unencumbered as possible. Of course, if it’s very sunny as well, you’ll have to remember to lather up on the suncream (more on that below), but this tank top will keep you feeling cool and light as you run.
Buy now £65.00, Adidas
Soar Hot Weather T
The best thing clothing can do when it’s hot out is disappear. Not literally. That would not be ideal. But in how it feels — as if it weren’t really there. That’s what this Soar t-shirt does exceptionally well.
When I tried it on a sweltering London day, I felt cool the whole time through the threshold runs (where you’re running at a high heart-rate, so certainly working up a sweat). Soar explains that the material is a mix of “SPACE3D mesh across the torso with a more protective closed knit across the shoulders, upper back, and sleeves” and adds that it gives some all-important UPF 50 coverage as well.
In practice, this means you’re protected from the sun and your own body heat. It looks great too, which, when you’re paying this much, is important. But you get what you pay for.
Buy now £90.00, Soar
Saysky Combat+ Rib Short Tights 8"
Half-tights are an excellent option when it comes to running — they have great storage, they look svelte, and in the case of this pair from Saysky, they keep you cool.
Saysky is a Danish brand which makes, in my view, some of the nicest running clothes out there, combining good looks, good material and practicality. A standout for these shorts is the rear phone pocket, which holds your phone dead steady while you run (so steady you forget it’s there, which is exactly the thing you want).
The breathable material keeps you cool even as the temperature rises, and it feels nice close to your skin. In a crowded field, these are a stand-out pair.
Buy now £85.00, Saysky
Janji 5" AFO Middle Short
Most running shorts are variants on a theme (well, they are shorts after all), but American brand Janji’s are a little different. The label is not afraid to offer some out-there patterns and colours, like these Paisley running shorts.
If you’re after something that looks great — and different — then these are the pair for you. The material is exceptionally thin, too, which makes them very pleasant indeed to run in when it’s hot out. They have excellent storage — another rear phone pocket that holds your precious device in a steady cinch — and feel premium to the touch. At a 5” inseam, too, they tread the line between eye-poppingly short and the Victorian-demure that some 7” shorts seem to offer.
Buy now £60.00, Janji
Oakley Radar Plate
Putting these Oakleys on is like putting an Instagram filter over your eyes. That’s a good thing, by the way. Colours pop, the sky looks a more intense shade of blue — and, hallelujah!, you can see in bright sunlight.
The Californian brand has made a name for itself in sports eyewear and knows what it’s doing. The Radar Plates are unobtrusive when on your face — they’re light, but stay steady even as you pick up the pace. A single lens runs along the length of the glasses and gives you an excellent field of view.
They’re premium quality and feel like it. You’ll find yourself reaching for them practically every run, whether it’s sunny or not (glare counts too, right? Right?).
Buy now £191.00, Oakley
Ciele GOCap Field
When it’s hot and sunny outside, you want the sun to stop going in your eyes and your sweat not to trickle down your brow. Step forward a convenient solution: the running cap.
What made this ciele one stand out in the testing against other caps was, first and foremost, its styling. It looks fantastic, like a classic running cap, and the bright colour offers something a little different. It does the basic job of a cap well (keeping the sun from your eyes) and has a sweatband that sees to the other task.
It provides up to 50 UPF protection and ciele notes that the logo on the front of the cap is reflective, which is handy for those early or late runs when you want to stay visible.
Buy now £35.00, ciele
Pelotan Protect and Recover Bundle
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Originally developed for cycling, this SPF30 sunscreen works just as well for running. What makes it special is that it leaves your skin feeling non-greasy and, crucially, it doesn’t stop working as you sweat.
I put this to the biggest test I could find: this year’s London Marathon, where the sun beat down from a cloudless sky all day. There were cold showers on the course to keep runners cool. I ran through every one I saw and made sure to douse myself with water from the water bottles too. And at the end of the day? I wasn’t burnt at all. That’s job done, as far as I’m concerned.
This bundle also features some after-sun, which doubles as a muscle gel (think Deep Heat style), which was extremely welcome after the rigours of the marathon. Overall. it’s the ideal package for exercising in hot weather — and for afterwards.
Buy now £38.70, Pelotan
Precision Hydration 500
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Electrolytes are all the rage these days. They’re very handy, though, when it comes to staying hydrated while running in the sun. They work before, during, and/or after, as you wish.
What Precision Hydration offer is a more targeted version of the traditional fare. You can undergo an (online) sweat test to determine which of their products suits you best (they range from between 500 and 1500 miligrams of sodium).
Once you’ve worked out what’s right for you, the actual taste is pleasantly gentle. Other electrolytes I tried lean into stronger flavours which can be a bit intense when you’re trying to gulp down some water to restore your salts. They’re handy for not getting dehydrated and also helping to prevent cramp. The personalised touch is a very nice bonus.
Buy now £10.11, Amazon
The North Face Summit Run Belt
Not all running belts are created equal, as I have found out when testing. Luckily, this North Face belt stood out. It’s comfortable to put on (some of them are a tight squeeze, before fitting alright) and disappears when you run.
The sweat-wicking material is a major help in that regard. The belt stays light even as you work harder.
The main reason you will want a belt, though, is to carry things, like phone, keys and gels. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous and going further than a nice gentle 5k trot, the Summit Run Belt can also accommodate fold-down hiking poles. It’s adjustable too, so you can dial in the fit easily.
Buy now £35.00, The North Face
Nike Dri-FIT Lightweight Sleeves 2.0
Running sleeves are a great way to keep your form when you pick the pace up. This pair from Nike has two very useful features.
One, they’re sweat-wicking, so they stay lightweight when it gets warmer, meaning you can focus on your running safely in the knowledge that your form is holding up.
Two, they’ve been treated with UV technology, keeping those nasty UV rays away from you when the sun is out. What more could you ask for when it comes to summertime running?
As an added bonus, you can store gels in the top of the sleeves (a trick you may notice from seeing others do it at various half and full marathons), making these a very handy item to have in your wardrobe.
Buy now £16.49, Nike
Adidas Adizero Running T-shirt
This Adidas running t-shirt is soft to the touch and very lightweight indeed. The fabric is perforated, so it’s ideal when the weather gets warmer and you want to stay cooler: as you run, you can feel the air brushing against your skin.
It worked brilliantly when I tested on a long-ish run of just under a couple of hours. I soon forgot it was there (well, as much as you can when the colourway is styled as “Semi Lucid Red”) and felt very comfortable. The colour really pops in the flesh too, but without looking like some sort of neon nightmare.
If you’re worried about your eco-footprint, then it’s a bonus that the material is 70 per cent recycled. An absolute go-to on hot days.
Buy now £55.00, Adidas
Saysky Clean Combat Pro T-Shirt
A staple for fashion-conscious runners, the Copenhagen brand’s Clean Combat Pro T-shirt is what you’d expect from a good quality running t-shirt: moisture-wicking and quick-drying.
In Saysky’s terms, they put it like this: “This Shirt is made out of DELTAPEAK® Carat™ fabric”.
My experience was that it did exactly what it said it would and kept me cool and dry even during a warm evening track session. It handled the faster paces well, which obviously bodes well for the easier runs (and there I can confirm it works a treat too).
The styling is what sets it apart. It’s understated, a great colour, and a fantastic piece of kit.
Buy now £49.00, Saysky
Janji M's Run All Day Tee
You know the drill by now: this is moisture-wicking and fast-drying. It also looks great and comes in a huge range of colours. Often, most running t-shirts are variants on a theme, but Janji do things a little differently. Like the fun Paisley shorts above, this t-shirt can be a lot of things, depending on what you like.
As for how it performs out in hot weather, absolutely no complaints there. It’s soft and smooth on the skin and fades into the background as the miles mount up. There’s a light texture to the fabric, and it offers UPF 25 protection. Janji also say it has an “odour control treatment” to help keep you “smelling fresh”. An important detail, if not to you, then to others around you.
Buy now £40.00, Janji
Tracksmith Men's Twilight Tee
Tracksmith has nailed its New England styling again with this one. The classic, understated look is instantly recognisable — and both comfortable and high-performance.
I tried it in the early mornings and late evenings, and it worked fantastically. I felt cool as the temperature rose and dry even at the end of a hard session. It handles all paces with aplomb and leaves you feeling like an authentic runner, no matter what pace your tech says you were running at...
It’s made from Tracksmith’s familiar Italian fabric and is smooth to the touch and easy on the eye.
Buy now £65.00, Tracksmith
Soar Singlet
As ever with British brand Soar, the material is absolutely stand-out. Made from Italian mesh, this Singlet is ideal for training while feeling free. The lack of material over your arms (true, of course, of any singlet or vest) is much more freeing than you would think before you try it.
What makes this Singlet so good is the material that just wicks away sweat instantly and feels as light at the end of the run as at the beginning. The cut (done with lasers, naturally) is sharp as anything, and the style pushes boundaries in a good way. It’s absolutely ideal for hot training days when you want to keep cool.
Buy now £80.00, Soar
