Tarawera 100

Devon fueled her race morning with a PF 60 Chew Bar and a coffee, keeping things simple and familiar ahead of the early start (04:00am). Before future races of this duration, she could consider topping this up with some additional carbohydrates, such as a bowl of rice or a banana, to get closer to the recommended 1-4g/kg of pre-race carbohydrate and build up her fuel stores before the gun.

During the race, Devon averaged ~67g of carbohydrate per hour across the nearly 20-hour effort, sitting slightly below the recommended range for an ultra-marathon of this duration. She relied on a combination of PF 300 Flow Gel, PF 90 Gels and PF 30 Caffeine Gels, supplemented with cola and some caffeinated energy drinks, whilst eating no solid food throughout. This near-exclusive sports nutrition strategy clearly suited her, and further supports the notion that elite athletes often don’t ‘feel the need’ to include any ‘real foods’ even in ultra-endurance races like Tarawera. Devon’s subjective feedback post-race supports this as she reported an 8.5/10 energy rating and had no stomach issues across the whole race. To optimise her strategy going forwards, she could look to increase her intake towards the ~75-90g/h recommendations, particularly through the middle portion of the race, to provide a bigger energy buffer when fatigue accumulates in the closing hours.

With the temperature at ~22℃ (72F) and humidity at ~95% all day were conditions that significantly increased Devon’s sweat losses and made effective hydration even more important. Devon averaged ~686ml/h of fluid across the 20 hours, which is a sensible volume for an ultra of this duration given the need to balance hydration with GI comfort over such a long period. She carried two 500ml soft flasks, refilling or replacing them at each of the nine uncrewed and five crewed aid stations along the way.

For sodium, Devon used a combination of Electrolyte Capsules alongside her plain water (two capsules per 500ml flask) and some PH 1500 at crewed aid stations, giving her an average relative sodium concentration of ~967mg/L. Without knowledge of her individual sweat sodium concentration from a Sweat Test, we’d still consider this a proactive approach. Devon recognised post-race that she would have benefited from more electrolyte drink, particularly in the humid opening hours.

Devon’s caffeine intake came from her pre-race coffee, two PF 30 Caffeine Gels, cola and two energy drinks, totalling ~7.17mg/kg across the race. This is slightly above the general guideline of 3-6mg/kg, but is a suitable level given the extended duration of the event. For most people, caffeine has a half-life of ~4-5 hours, so spreading doses throughout a 20-hour race is important to maintain an optimal concentration in the blood so it can enhance focus, alertness and perceived energy levels.