Thanks guys. I have been experimenting with your feedback. I now think I have below-normal tolerance to cold (hands only), but I don't think it is to the extent of being R'd disease.

Trial 1: The day I had posted this query, I had just worn a t shirt and a jacket and no hat for my Uetliberg run, and when the hands started freezing, I took off the jacket to wrap it around my hands...so running in a thin t-shirt in something like -8 C... In hindsight, the results are not surprising.

Trial 2: This time I wore one full layer and cap for an identical run, and this time it still hurt, but far less. I then took off the golves until it hurt almost as badly as the first time, to observe if there was characteristic coloring as in R's disease, luckily I could not see anything (I am presuming the color is a necessary condition for the Raynauds disease).

Trial 3: Yesterday I ran warmly with two full layers, again around -5 temp, and this time there was no hurt. However I could still begin to feel some tingling after half an hour.

So my conclusion is, I have below normal tolerance. I would still need to use these glove warmers for cycling or very long exposure, but for running an hour, I can manage by dressing right and keeping life simple.

I really don't understand this business of withstanding cold. I invariably see young adults (locals) wearing super-warm caps and gloves, but the majority of grandmas with elegant silver hair, wearing no hats (this was a "confused" smiley with the halos obfuscated by the X-mas hat ) It is exactly the opposite in India: wearing a cap is a trademark sign of old age or nursing mothers.