Long-distance
TEST
Laura is in it for the long haul with this Soar top layer
SOAR
Windbreaker
£150 / XS-XL / soarrunning.com
I’ve run through two winters with this top now, and I expect to be running in it through a third. I don’t know whether to describe it as a jacket or a top because it’s neither and both, and somehow more useful than either of those two things. I wear it to make me more visible to traffic and to keep me cosy and protected from the wind. As well as being bright red (it does also come in black, but the red is fab) it has a reflective strip all around the bottom hem and cuffs as well as a dash of it on the front and rear, so I feel really visible. The cosiness comes from the brushed interior of the fabric which means it feels nice against your skin – unlike a waterproof shell – if you’re wearing it over a vest or short sleeve top, and the thickness of the fabric that, as the name suggests, keeps the wind out. Yes, it’s pricey – Soar definitely make ‘investment pieces’ – but it is also a piece I keep coming back to run after run, and it holds its shape, colour and feel through dozens of washes as well.