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Carbs are having a moment in our sport, and hopefully one that sticks around. Hitting big fueling targets helps runners cross the stream where it’s shallowest. More energy, better recovery, and happy hormones? Sign me up to fight in the high-carb revolution, I’ll pledge my life to the cause.
But the prospect of knocking back 90g’s an hour on any given run does pose one potential problem: how to store it all on the go.
I’m not anti-vest, but I don’t want to wear one on every run, especially if I can access water on my route or camel up enough beforehand to avoid bringing more than a handheld. The sensation of running unencumbered, free to feel the breeze on our backs, is just too good to pass up whenever possible. And don’t get me started on belts that may start on my hips but wriggle their way up to the top of my ribcage within five minutes.
These might not be issues that concern every male runner. Belts tend to ride up on curvier torsos, and most apparel designed for men comes equipped with storage options galore. For women, though, adequate storage seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Give me a break with these tiny excuses for pockets that barely fit an electrolyte tab, let alone a single gel. I don’t care how good my butt looks in that pair of sleek, seamless shorts if I can’t carry everything I need for a measly Tuesday morning run.
So, I rounded up six pairs of women’s running shorts with pockets that actually take the storage needs of female runners seriously.
To make the list, every pair had to meet a minimum standard:
From there, I scored each pair on a 1–10 scale across three categories:
Need the fastest possible answer before we get into the full breakdown? Here’s where each pair shines:
🥇 Best overall: Terignota Sendero Shorts 🥇
🔑 Best organized storage: Janji Trail Shorts 🔑
🏁 Best built-in belt feel: FlipBelt Comp Elite Shorts 🏁
⭐️ Best use of pocket space: For The Run Dasher Shorts ⭐️
🏆 Most comfortable: Oiselle Pockito Shorts 🏆
💨 Best for shorter runs: Rabbit Pacer Shorts 💨
The right pair depends less on which short has the most pockets and more on what you actually need to carry. Some runners need maximum fuel storage for long trail days, while others just want a phone, keys, and one emergency gel to stay put. Use the comparison below to match each short to your run style, storage needs, and preferred fit.
Here’s how all six women’s running shorts with pockets compare on fit, pocket layout, storage capacity, stability, and comfort...
A loose-fitting trail short built for long trail runs or races when you want to carry fuel, phone, and even a soft flask without a vest or belt. The 360° waistband does the stabilizing, so you get serious storage without a compression fit.
A compressive trail short for long runs, ultras, and race efforts where you need every gel, flask, key, and layer to have an obvious home. This is the low-brain-cell-mile option when organization matters.
A compression short for road long runs, marathon training, or race efforts when you want belt-style storage built into the waistband. It’s ideal for carrying phone, fuel, and small essentials without wearing an actual belt.
A compression short for fuel-heavy workouts and races when you’re carrying multiple gels, chews, and small essentials. The divided pocket layout keeps items separated instead of turning into pocket soup.
A soft, stretchy compression short for comfortable long runs or technical trail days where freedom of movement matters as much as storage. Heavier items do best in the waistband, with lighter fuel or essentials in the side pockets.
A 2-in-1 compression short for shorter everyday runs when you only need your phone, keys, and an emergency gel. It’s the essentials-only option for easy miles, workouts, and low-fuss run days.
Terignota is doing some pretty incredible things in the trail space. First off, this homegrown brand designs trail apparel that’s actually affordable for your everyday runner—we’re talking tees for $22 and shorts for $29, a true gift to the running community in this economy. But this is not one of those “you get what you pay for” situations in the best way possible.
The Sendero Shorts outshine other pairs that I’ve begrudgingly paid more than triple for. The 360° waistband storage system that’s integrated into the design can handle just as much as any running belt out there, with the added bonus of being absolutely budge and bounce-free. These are the only shorts that I can trust to hold a full 16oz flask, on top of carbs for hours. That’s because the waistband uses snug, secure, and most importantly evenly distributed elastic to hold everything in place without creating the annoying pressure points that drawstrings tend to.
These do have a drawstring, but it feels supplementary rather than the primary method of fit and security. The drawstring is also enclosed in its own little pocket so the knot won’t rub against your skin (a pet peeve of mine that turns me off from most drawstrings). The waistband compartments are easily accessible thanks to pull-tabs that your fingers can grasp even when you’re moving fast. You also get the benefits of all that space up top and the comfort of a loose split-short fit down below, which is a rare combo as you’ll see in the breakdown of this list. Most storage-forward shorts feature a compression fit for stability. The Sendero Shorts just don’t need any assistance in that department.
Dumb runner brain is a real thing. The longer or faster you go, the harder it is to think straight. My pacers can confirm that I revert into an actual toddler just past the halfway mark of any race. But we embrace it, especially with the help of shorts like these.
The Janji Trail Shorts must have been designed with dumb runner brain in mind. All the components are meticulously placed and organized so that you can lay hands on exactly what you’re looking for without a second thought. No Mary Poppins pockets to dig through, no inconspicuous compartments that go unused, no finicky zippers to finagle. You get five storage slots of varying capacities that are each perfectly sized to hold exactly what you need: side for phone, other side for gels or a flask, waistband left for more gels, waistband right for valuables with a keyring for peace of mind, and back for a small flask or light layer—or, of course, more gels. Always more gels. A place for everything and everything in its place.
The pockets are deep enough to hold your items but shallow enough that they’re right at your fingertips when you reach for them. The pockets are also all made of mesh for visibility if you’re looking down for something specific, like that one favorite gel flavor that will definitely bring you back to life when you’re in a low (mine’s Birthday Cake, don’t judge).
Janji’s attention to detail continues in this same vein. The mesh used for the pocketing is both secure and stretchy. Silicone dots grip the skin to hold the legs in place without chafing. Two separate openings to the back pocket make it possible to thread a jacket through them, even if it would be too bulky to fit in the pocket itself. The drawstring is colored bright blue at the ends, in stark contrast to the main body fabric, so that the tips are easy to spot if you have to adjust on the go. These are the shorts you want on your body when you won’t have brain cells to spare.
Back when I was still hopeful about finding a running belt that worked for me, I tried one from Flipbelt that I didn’t entirely hate, and that’s high praise for me in this category. So I had to give their next project—shorts with the belt built in—a shot. Flipbelt successfully integrated everything that I liked about the belt into these shorts and then some.
You don’t get a full 360 degrees of storage, but the pockets start just in front of the hips and wrap all the way around the back, so you do get a touch more than 180. All the pocketing opens at the top with pull tabs for easy access, except for one zippered pouch on the left that’s the perfect size for keys or earbuds. I’m actually a big fan of how they designed this zipper. It runs diagonally along the pocket which makes it a lot easier to open and close while moving than a standard horizontal or vertical zipper. The rest of the pocketing is divided into small compartments that keep the contents from sliding around, so you always know where everything is, but they’re each still plenty big enough to hold multiple gels each. The back pocket holds a phone or even a small flask. FlipBelt makes contoured hardshell flasks specifically for this back pocket, though I’ve managed to squeeze an entire 16oz soft flask back there too once I’d taken a few sips. Snug side pockets on each leg add to the total capacity. What I really dig about these shorts is the detailing and the layout, like the aforementioned thoughtfulness of the zipper pocket placement. The top edges of the side pockets were made slightly thicker and sturdier than the super thin and stretchy fabric of the pockets themselves, which gives them just enough substance so your hand slides right in instead of groping around for the opening. It’s such a small thing but one that really comes in handy for a quick grab n’ go. Alternatively, the edges along your legs are so low-profile that they can’t catch on anything or dig into your thighs around the hem.
Internal silicone grips and just enough compression prevent them from riding or rolling up too, which is usually my only complaint about such thin seamless fabric. Finally, the drawstring works both ways so you can choose between tying it on the inside or outside of the waistband. There must be enough of us out there with oddly strong feelings about that, one way or the other.
The award for best use of real estate goes to For the Run for the Dasher Shorts.
These shorts triple the typical storage capacity by integrating mesh dividers that break each side pocket into three separate compartments. Two of them are side-by-side slim slots designed to hold gels or electrolyte tablet tubes snugly in place, the tops peeking out just high enough to grab with ease, with another that runs the width of the whole pocket to fit all the other usual suspects. Tack on a large lumbar pocket and two sneaky foldover waistband pockets, and there’s your whole race plan in one single, solitary pair of shorts. Really. I’ve crammed four regular gels, a jumbo gel, two packs of chews, a small flask, a phone, and a headlamp all in, with a place for everything and everything in its place. At max capacity, the side pockets jut out a little, but you wouldn’t know it without looking in the mirror because the mesh dividers do such a good job of holding each item in place and preventing them from bounding or rubbing against each other. It also helps that the wide, contoured waistband doesn’t slip an inch no matter how heavy the load.
The Dasher Shorts come in two versions: brushed and ribbed. I prefer the ribbed because they have a bit less give to them, which makes the fit feel more compressive and the storage more secure. The trade-off is that they run warmer and firmer than their thinner, sleeker counterpart. Super sweaty summer runs undoubtedly warrant the regular model for better breathability and a more forgiving amount of stretch, but otherwise I appreciate the extra degree of security and support from the sturdy ribbed fabric. Either way, the whole design is pretty darn smart. Space out all those pockets in different places around the shorts, and they’d just feel overbuilt and uncomfortable, bulging out every which way without rhyme or reason—which, as we’ve discussed, is a recipe for frustration when dumb runner brain descends upon us as the miles add up. But stack and divvy the pockets with intention, and you get an entirely different result that’s equal parts efficient and intuitive.
If you’ve ever worn your running clothes to bed to make an early morning start a little easier, you’ll dig the Pockito Shorts. These are truly the comfiest shorts I’ve ever worn, as soft as fleece pajamas against the skin yet still functional on the run. They’re extremely stretchy and flexible so you never feel restricted or confined. With that in mind, I love them for techy trail runs when I know I’ll be bounding around in all different directions and angles because they’ll allow for full freedom of movement. The Pockito Shorts may lack some of the compression that less forgiving fabrics offer, but there’s something to be said for cozy clothes on a grueling run to help take the edge off.
The Pockito Shorts earn their name, too. Two side pockets and a 360 degree waistband storage take these straight from loungewear to long run ready. The stretchiness of the fabric means you can really squeeze all the juice out of that wraparound pocket until you’re practically rocking an inner tube. No dividers besides the back zippered compartment, but because the fabric is on the softer side, it’s not as slick as more technical fabrics so things don’t slide around in there as much as you’d expect. The inner liner is also subtly more compressive than the outer, so the pocket can expand outward as you stuff it full without the waistband itself getting tugged away from the body. The two side pockets are just as capable, but I find them less stable than the waistband when all loaded up because of the reduced compression in the legs. These just do best with heavier, bulkier items in the waistbelt and lighter things in the sides.
Not every run calls for a mobile aid station on your hips. Sometimes you just need your phone, your keys, and an emergency gel or two all held securely while you chug along. The Rabbit Pacer Shorts hit the minimum effective dose of storage space for the short n’ simple runs on your docket. The two side pockets and single back zipper pocket won't win any capacity contests, but what's there is reliable. Everything stays put, and the back zipper pocket contains the valuables you really can't afford to lose mid-run. After my only car key fell out of an open-top pocket somewhere far out in McGinnis Canyon, at least one zipper somewhere on my shorts is something I won’t compromise on (that, and a backup fob from the locksmith).
So while these shorts cover enough of the basics in the storage department to earn a spot on this list, I like them most for the way they fit. The compression hits a sweet spot, enough to keep things locked in without feeling like your quads are being squeezed into a sausage casing. The inner leg grips hold the hems exactly where you lay them, which—as I’ll reiterate—is more than most shorts can manage. The waistband is flattering and functional, hitting right below the belly button at a point that reduces pressure on your waist without being restrictive. The elastic does a good job of distributing pressure evenly. And this is a small thing, but I like the smooth feel of the drawstring and the firm rubber end coatings that help keep it in a bow (but make sure you tie it tight before throwing these in the wash, because my machine loves to catch on those grippy tips and pull the string loose every time).
The Pacers are my go-to short run shorts because they make room for everything I need and nothing I don’t on those tired days when a few easy miles is all you’ve got in the tank.
Found a pair that carries your phone, gels, keys, and mid-run emotional support snacks without bouncing, chafing, or riding up? Leave a review on WeeViews and help another runner find shorts that actually work for their miles.
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