Runs With Mascara: Wink

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wink

Bet you think this is going to be about mascara! Nope! No mascara but we do have a long overdue product review of the newest hydration system for RWM, the Ultimate Direction Wink. Dana has been running with this pack since the Western States training weekend over Memorial Day.

Bottom line: LOVE!
Details: We have handhelds, we have small hydration packs, we have expedition size packs but what was missing was the mid-size supported run with mandatory gear pack to use at TransRockies! That meant big enough for stuff but not a huge bladder since refills were going to be available. The Wink was ordered and it has not disappointed. First, to get it out of the way, the pack is pretty! The blue color is fantastic which isn't so important for staying hydrated but doesn't hurt when trying to look cool. There are enough back pockets to store small stuff (keys, money) and big stuff (extra food and long sleeve shirt) and there is enough room for that TransRockies mandatory gear (blister kit, hat, gloves, jacket). There are loops for running poles, a mesh pocket for stuffing maps or whatever you need and that adjusts to hold your precious items tight. The real seller though are the multiple pockets in front on the straps and the double front sternum straps. First the front pockets. There are 4 of them. Probably enough room to stash 1,000 calories in bar, gel or sandwich form and never need to stop, ever. Small stash pockets hold lip balm tight. Big pockets zip in food and don't let it go (until you want it!) When you eat as much as Dana, this is nirvana! As for the sternum straps, with 2 of them the pack literally doesn't move. So no annoying bounce, no chaffing.

Get one at Zombie Runner, you won't be sorry!

Dana's pack isn't looking so pretty after some dirty wet miles and a hungry dog got to it but trail running isn't the cleanest sport. The pack will be packed come time for Transrockies for sure!

No, Dana can't sew. She will stick to baking from now on!

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About Runs with Mascara

Who is Team Runs with Mascara?

Runs with Mascara is Dana Katz and Samantha Pinney - training partners and friends for the past 3 years; adventurers with a flair for musicals and running skirts, and a generous respect for looking good when sweating hard. While they’ve had many adventures across the West, one of their more epic spans was a week they spent racing from the Bizz Johnson trail marathon in northern California to rappeling in Arches National Park, to biking the White Rim Trail in southern Utah to running the Moab Half Marathon. This is their first race endeavor as a team under the name RWM.

Samantha Pinney overcame the malls of her New Jersey youth for an obsession with the outdoors that carries her from skiing to ultra running to outrigger canoeing and whatever adventures she can find. She can’t imagine life without running skirts, flip flops or beanies and wields a kettle ball as deftly as she does a mascara wand. She competed in the 2010 Crossfit Team Games, has multiple top 10 finishes to her name but can’t throw a softball to save her life. She’d like to be a better surfer.

Dana Katz is a recovering triathlete and cyclocross racer turned ultrarunner. She eats hills for breakfast that she doctors with homemade concoctions of flaxseed and ginger granola in her ongoing quest to create ridiculously healthy and delicious meals. Dana is a globetrotter who in a recent span ran a ½ marathon in Brazil, a trail run in Sweden, a marathon in northern California and a harried loop amongst the monuments of Washington D.C. before boarding a plane. She doesn’t leave home without her running skirt and snacks. Don’t let Dana’s easy-going, amicable personality fool you: she trains like a warrior and competes with a vengeance.