Ladies (and gentlemen if that’s the way your cookie crumbles), this could be a short review. Because I flipping LOVE this bit of kit and have nothing even slightly negative to say about it.

I started looking for a good running skirt a little while ago. I got a Kalenji one, but it was teeny tiny and had equally teeny tiny shorts underneath it, so it has been re-homed without even attempting a run. I am told it’s a good skirt, and it was really cute so I’m happy to take it’s adopted owner’s word for it. Then I tried a North Face trail skirt which had longer shorts and was, on balance, a success. You can read my breezy review of that one here.

A rather wonderful Twitter person going by the handle @Runningdutchie read that review and suggested I try a WAA Ultra running skirt. This was clearly foreordained, as this was the brand I’d seen a lady in at parkrun and not managed to get over to in time to ask her where it was from. A quick Google showed that WAA stands for ‘What An Adventure’ and they specialise in kit for ultras, mainly the Marathon des Sables.  @Runningdutchie’s assurance that these skirts go absolutely nowhere, are incredibly light, and make you feel like a pro therefore seemed a pretty safe recommendation on which to place an order.

I mean you can’t be stopping to pull a wedgie out half way into your 6th back to back marathon in the Sahara, can you? Seemed legit.

So I ordered one. And I wore it to run in. And I bloody loved it. And then I washed it three times in a week to make sure I could wear it as often as possible, so I ordered another one in a different colour.

It has compression shorts underneath which have soft rubbery adhesive on the elasticated hems to prevent movement. It has a lovely wide waistband that sits just perfectly on your hips, and it doesn’t slip down – I have worn mine for 18 and 20 milers now and it went absolutely nowhere. Of course it doesn’t, the Marathon des Sables is 251km long. 20 miles is nothing to this skirt, and it positively laughs in the face of 18!

The overskirt doesn’t get blown up in the wind and is an incredibly light material made even lighter with small holes across it. It has hi vis bits on as well. It’s the perfect length and slightly longer at the back to make you feel like the goods are covered. And @Runningdutchie was right, it really does make you feel like a pro.

The sizing is really clever as well, there’s a chart for your height and weight, so no guesswork about interpreting the sizes. Mine are size medium, which seems to perfectly fit my slightly-larger-than-most-shops-think-they-ought-to-be thighs but don’t fall off my slightly-smaller-than-most-shops-think-it-ought-to-be waist for my size 8-10 frame.

I love, love, love these skirts and am completely converted.

You can check out the full range of kit WAA Ultra have on their website. I really like the idea of the tops they have which have four pockets in, getting rid of the need for a gel belt, but as I am not actually an ultra runner (yet!) I can’t really justify buying one. (Maybe Mr. Duff will read this and remember it’s my birthday soon….!).

The company is based in Paris, so there is a bit of a shipping fee, but the shipping was super fast (about 5 working days from the point of ordering) and it’s free if you spend more than 100 euro. Great service in terms of ordering and given how good this bit of kit is I think it’s excellent value for money – mine were each around 40 euro plus shipping.

Final Verdict

Does what it claims? Yes. It’s light, it doesn’t move, and it feels fabulous to run in. I don’t have many bits of kit that I have 100% positive things to say about! 10/10

Useful for runners? This skirt is so comfortable – zero chafage even on the longest run. And if you want to wear something other than leggings but you’re not comfortable with standard shorts, this is a really good compromise. I feel pretty awesome in mine on the run as well which is always a good thing. 10/10

Value for money? Absolutely. A bit more than I would usually spend on shorts, but I really do have no criticisms. Its a genuinely technical bit of kit and has clearly been really cleverly designed, developed and tested for long hours of wear in difficult conditions. 10/10

Will I keep using it? I would wear one every day if I could, I’d flipping live in it. I put one on at 6.30am this morning and wore it in total comfort through a traily parkrun, and a cross country practice session and only took it off at about 4pm. 10/10