Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Fuel Belt is a company well known among runners and triathletes, but I never had a need for such a snazzy product.  I see runners of all levels wearing the company’s products, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and see what all of the fuss is about.  I initially wanted this review to be as short as possible, but had to add a bit of additional depth to cover all of my bases.

Alameda Runners will today review the Fuel Belt H20 Helium 2-Bottle Belt, one of the company’s latest and greatest products.  Based off of the company’s popular Helium 2-Bottle Belt, the H2O Collection Helium 2-Bottle Belt has a one-size-fits-all design, and is lighter than previous generations.

There is a common problem during long runs that forces runners to re-adjust the tightness of the belt, though this doesn’t seem to be a major problem with the products from Fuel Belt.  The company uses an excellent material for the waistband, and the H20 Helium’s one-size-fits-all design makes it even easier for it to be shared among different runners.

A removable race pocket also is included, which is able to hold my car keys, some spare change, and a couple of energy gels.  If you don’t feel like using it, simply slide it off the belt until next time.  The ability to easily remove the gel pack also makes it a lot easier to clean after a long run – important if you want to easily clean your fuel belt, shoes, GPS, etc. before hitting the shower.

The belt is extremely light, even with two full water bottles, a couple of GU energy gels, my car keys, and some loose change in the race pouch.   The fuel belt does not seem to absorb as much sweat as my other running belts.  If it does hold the sweat, the light touch of the belt makes the feel less noticeable.

The 2-bottle belt from the H20 Helium holds just 8-ounces in each bottle, which provides very miniscule16-ounces of liquid.

Even during a 10-mile training run on a 65F day in Alameda, just two 8 oz. water bottles on the Fuel Belt simply wasn’t enough.  I stopped on a couple of occasions to re-fill the bottles — which is okay in Alameda, but obviously cannot happen if I’m out on a longer distance run on some trails.

If you plan on going on a trail run where you’ll need even more water than usual, please keep in mind whether or not 16 ounces of water will be enough for you.

The Fuel Belt H20 Collection 2-Bottle Belt is available from Fuel Belt for a $39.95 MSRP fee.  There are seven colors available:  silver/black, hibiscus pink/cocoa, royal blue/silver, yellow/black, tangerine/cocoa, surf blue/sliver, and kiwi green/black.

I saw a number of people running the Oakland Half Marathon (some event pictures and ramblings can be found here) with their Fuel Belt.  I think a well-stocked event is perfect for the H2O Collection, as some runners I chatted with said they use the two bottles to store their favorite electrolyte drink.

Ultimately, I love the material and one-size-fits-all approach Fuel Belt used to make the 2-Bottle Belt I reviewed, but just don’t think two bottles is enough.  The belt is extremely high quality, though it would have been nice if Fuel Belt threw in an extra bottle or two.

Fuel Belt was kind enough to send the H20 2-Bottle Belt for review.
Editors note:  I like the two bottle design for long training runs in Alameda.  Our trail has plenty of water fountains but they do not dispense electrolytes.  Two 8 ounce bottles of electrolyte are enough to sustain me through a 3 hour training run in warm weather with water fountains.