Welcome to September, a month where #2 pencils and fresh notebooks hold all the promise of a new year. Instead of celebrating school supplies, we’re going to celebrate our gear this month. We’re looking for your most sentimental or memorable piece of gear. The one that makes you smile when you pull it on–or think about it. 

If you’d like to contribute a short essay about your most sentimental or memorable piece of gear, email us at bamr@anothermotherrunner.com your tribute (<600 words), with a few pictures of you with the gear, and we’ll be in touch.

You can read Dimity’s piece here. Today’s post is from Cathy Engstrom.

Runners are no strangers to gear. From shoes to sports bras it can feel a little bit like dating: swipe left on those shorts and give them a try; go out with the new trail shoes and see if they’re a good fit. Some choices come from trial and error, while others arrive in our lives (or on our doorstep from a delivery truck) with the recommendations from our best running friends. It’s a special moment when a piece of gear turns out to be a perfect fit.

Several years ago I wanted to increase the borders of my comfort zone and I started signing up for longer and longer races. With more miles came more gear, and eventually a hydration pack was no longer a might need but a must have, and that’s how my Tiffany Blue Nathan hydration vest came into my life. The spark was instantaneous; it was an immediate match made in heaven. We’re bonded for life, my vest and I. Outside of my husband and closest friends, it has seen me shed more tears, conquer more obstacles, and witnessed more breakdowns and breakthroughs than anyone else.

If you had told me years ago I would become a feral trail geek, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But this hydration vest became the companion that encouraged me to push a little harder, climb a little higher, believe in myself a little more, and trust myself to finish what I started.

My hydration vest has more pockets and hiding spaces than Mary Poppins’s magical bag, and when I ask if I can squeeze one more item into her pouches she always says yes. It’s a ridiculous, on-the-nose metaphor for most women today, and it’s no surprise she overdelivers every single time I use her. She cheers me on, she takes me to the mountaintop, and she has my back—literally.

She is also a memory keeper, a treasure chest holding hundreds of miles from San Francisco to New Jersey, from National Parks to my backyard trails. It amazes me that I can catch a glimpse of her sitting with my hiking gear and I am transported to a trail in Arizona or Oregon, a reminder that I choose to spend time outside seeking adventures.

When I sling this vest over my shoulders, my pulse quickens and the endorphins begin their little dance. I know I’m about to embark on my favorite activity, and the anticipation gets me every single time. What a gift.