Sweat The Details

Profligate perspirer Duncan Craig wipes his brow and dives deep into the science of sweat to discover how savvy moisture management and strategic hydration can boost running performance.

- Duncan Craig

On 16 October 2015, Alastair Cook raised his bat and headed for the pavilion at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

He'd spent 836 minutes at the crease, a record for an England batsman, in temperatures close to 40°C. His innings was remarkable for its poise, focus and strokeplay; but what caught my attention was something more... physiological. England's opener looked about as sweaty as someone strolling off the set of an air-conditioned photo shoot. “How?!” I practically screamed at the TV, my incredulity laced with envy. For not only do I have a lamentable cover drive, I'm also the sweatiest sweater since Boris Johnson arrived late for hot yoga. A warm-up jog leaves me drenched. The gym's even worse – my 20-minute cool-down consists almost entirely of wiping down the treadmill.

For much of my 30-plus years of running, I've just accepted this waterlogged aesthetic and got on with it; heavy sweating is not something one tends to shout about. But with the passing years, I've grown less self-conscious, more curious – and definitely more interested in anything that carries the whiff of a potential performance gain. Understanding why I perspire so much is objectively interesting to me. But to what extent it's affecting my running, and how this might be mitigated – that's the real driver.

My initial research throws up a reassuring discovery: I'm far from alone. Online forums are awash with runners pooling advice on sweat-masking and sweat-wicking kit, sharing rehydration strategies and generally showing solidarity for each other's sticky predicaments.