Evan Scully
Paris Marathon
ParisIndividual, M35-39Evan's headline numbers
Evan's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I was really happy with my high carb intake for this race and I wouldn’t change anything going forward. My energy was really consistent throughout!"
As a coach of more than 100 Olympic athletes, Evan knows the importance of fueling correctly to suit the demands of an event like the marathon. He approached the race by maximising his stored energy through carb loading along with topping off his blood glucose in the last 30 minutes before the start. During the race, Evan took a [PF 30 Gel]() every 20 minutes to keep a consistent stream of carb coming in and maintain high energy levels throughout.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
T - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I didn’t drink much during the race which explains not needing to pee at all, but my pee was still relatively clear after the race so I don’t think I was too dehydrated. "
Typically, people with Cystic Fibrosis like Evan lose a lot of sodium in their sweat, and so it is important for them to focus on nailing their electrolyte replacement during endurance events like the marathon, as Evan consistently does. There has been a really positive recent development in the treatment of CF with drugs that are able to reduce the extent of electrolyte excretion in sweat, meaning Evan has been able to adapt his hydration strategy (and specifically his sodium intake) accordingly in recent years. Despite drinking very little throughout the race, he reported being happy with his hydration strategy on the day. It’s likely that due to the cooler temperatures and his lower sweat rate, Evan didn’t require too much fluid during the race and managed to avoid any issues associated with dehydration.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
Evan spread out his caffeine intake consistently throughout the race in the form of PF 30 Caffeine Gels. For someone of his bodyweight, his overall intake would fall at the lower end of the [scientific recommendations]() leaving room for this to be optimised further to maximise the ergogenic effects associated with caffeine.
How Evan hit his numbers
Here's everything that Evan ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I'm very happy with an 18 minute PB and European record for the fastest person with Cystic Fibrosis to do a marathon!”
“Evan ran incredibly well and was thrilled to set the new CF European Marathon Record. Ahead of his next race, Evan could further optimise his strategy by slightly increasing his caffeine intake to more fully reap the associated benefits. For warmer races, it’d be helpful to increase his fluid and sodium intake to ensure he stays hydrated, practising this in training ahead of time so his gut is accustomed to tolerating a higher amount of fluid. ”
PF&HEvan's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.