• Russell is a keen athlete with vast experience across multiple endurance sports. He also carries out Sweat Testing as the head coach at ‘GO’ Beyond Physical Limits based in Hamilton, New Zealand
• He took on the 2023 Kathmandu Coast to Coast, which sees athletes run, kayak and cycle from Kumara beach in the west of New Zealand to New Brighton beach, Christchurch, in the east of the country as part of this premier ‘multisport’ adventure race, previously known as ‘The Longest Day’ competition
• After experiencing some difficulties during the longest duration stage of the event, the 67km Kayak, Russell felt that his carb intake had some room for improvement on the day, which may have helped his perceived energy throughout the final 70km cycle

Hydration

• In a multisport event there are complexities involved in carrying your race fuel and hydration across several sporting disciplines. In this case, Russell had to work out how he would go about executing his strategy while running, riding and paddling across the country for ~15 hours
• While on the bike legs of the race, Russell relied on bottles integrated between his handlebars and in cages to deliver his fluid. He was able to make the most of the drinkable water from streams that he crossed during the running legs to refill the soft flasks from his vest
• Unfortunately, Russell struggled with one of his integrated fluid bladders containing PH 1000 Sachets inside his personal flotation device (PFD) while paddling, and only found out after it was too late that it had shifted, causing a kink in the tube connecting the reservoir to the mouthpiece
• This meant that overall he consumed ~479ml (15oz) of fluid per hour, with a relative sodium concentration of ~1,414mg/L (mg/32oz). He achieved this by drinking PH 1000, PH 1500, PF Energy Drink Mix and 21 Electrolyte Capsules
• This above average relative sodium concentration is something that we wouldn’t recommend for everyone. However, Russell knows after his Sweat Test, that he loses an above average 1,371mg of sodium per litre (32oz) of sweat. This means that his intake was absolutely appropriate for him and replaced a good proportion of what he lost via his sweat throughout the race
• Likewise, the fact Russell reported peeing quite frequently during the race and actually being quite cold at some points means his moderate hourly fluid intake was likely appropriate, and helped him stave off any severe effects of dehydration
• These suitable fluid and electrolyte intakes may have contributed towards Russell experiencing no cramping on the day, although he did feel some twinges in his leg adductors which never eventuated, but he assumed these were due to sitting in the kayak for such a long time

Fueling

Conclusions

• In the end, Russell was able to traverse the 243km stretch from coast to coast in a time of 15 hours and 11 minutes. While this is an impressive feat, he was generally dissatisfied with his performance on the day, having had high hopes after a strong and injury-free build up to the event
• In terms of his fueling, there’s some room for additional carb intake. Although it must be considered, naturally, that his average hourly number would have been higher with the exact same intake had his finishing time been closer to his initial aims
• Overall, Russell nailed his hydration - and was able to adapt well on the fly to utilise streams for fluid replenishment, all the while maintaining an appropriate relative sodium concentration for his known losses