Jurassic Coast Ultra Challenge

Chris from our Marketing Team went into his first 100km ultramarathon with well stocked glycogen stores following a 48 hour carb-load where he hit ~9.5g/kg to sit nicely within the 8-12g/kg recommendations. He consumed easily digestible carbohydrates including rice, bagels and sweets, as well as PF 60 Chew Bars and Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix to bump up his intake. Chris averaged ~71g carb per hour during his longest ever run. During the first 58km (~10 hours) he used predominantly sports nutrition products - 5 PF 90 Gels, 6 PF 30 Chews and a PF 60 Chew Bar - to hit ~88g/h which would have well supported his energy levels through the daytime phase of the race. For the second half of the race (~10 hours 45 mins), Chris’ focus shifted to real foods as flavour fatigue started to creep in. He took on a variety of carb-rich snacks such as sweets, fig rolls and flapjacks to ensure that he was still getting in enough carbs to fuel through the night, averaging ~59g/h.

Even though Chris has a low sweat sodium concentration, appropriate sodium replacement during endurance exercise is crucial to support water absorption and retention as well as glucose absorption, especially for a race of this duration. Well versed on our recommendations, Chris preloaded with PH 1500 the night before and morning of the race to start optimally hydrated. During the race, he then relied on equal proportions of PH 1500 (Drink Mix) and plain water to create a concentration close to his losses. Chris also consumed sodium through the foods he was eating such as chips and noodles. This meant his overall relative sodium concentration slightly exceeded his losses but that is preferential compared to underdoing it during an event like this where his sweat rate would have been high through the warmer parts of the day.

Chris followed a common endurance caffeine strategy of delaying his caffeine intake until later in the race when his body’s circadian rhythm began to promote sleep. At this point he had a mug of coffee, followed by a second three hours later, Chris opted for coffee over a PF 30 Caffeine Gel for the mental boost of a warm drink during the cooler night. This created an overall dose of 2.4mg caffeine per kg bodyweight which is slightly below the recommended 3-6mg/kg for optimal ergogenic effects. In future, Chris could have one PF 30 Caffeine Gel alongside his coffees to give him that added hit through the early hours of the morning.