• This race saw Hayden race over the 100km distance for the second time in just 8 weeks, having battled with COVID-19 in the meantime
• Early on, he realised the temperature and humidity in the dense forest sections were much higher than expected, and his hydration strategy came under strain
• After a battle against his training partner, the eventual victor, which turned into a battle against dehydration, Hayden still managed to go 20 minutes under the previous course record to finish second in 7 hours 42 minutes

Hydration

• Hayden wasn’t anticipating particularly warm temperatures on race day, so the night before he chose to drink ~500ml (16oz) of plain water with his dinner. Then on race morning he preloaded like normal with ~500ml of PH 1500 with his breakfast
• He also drank a caffeinated energy drink around an hour before the race start to give him a final energy boost and increase his alertness
• During the race, his plan was to use his support crew to provide him with 500ml (16oz) of PF Energy Drink Mix each hour throughout the race. Unfortunately, similar to his previous race in Kosci, the course was changed at the last minute due to landslides along the route, and access to his support crew was significantly reduced
• Subsequently, whilst Hayden did manage to consume his planned fluid quantity each hour, as temperatures and humidity rose during the “jungle-like” sections, his sweat rate was higher than anticipated, and he became increasingly thirsty yet unable to access the volume of fluids he desired
• At ~5 hours he decided to stop at an aid station and rapidly consume ~1L (32oz) of plain water in an attempt to rehydrate, and soon after he did feel a resurgence. By this point, his rival and training partner Daniel Jones was several minutes ahead, and Hayden switched his focus to damage limitation, rather than pushing his limits
• On average, Hayden drank ~519ml (17oz) per hour for 7 hours 42 minutes, which is a solid intake whilst running at such speeds for 102km. However, his perception of dehydration was high, and thus his intake was likely insufficient to prevent a decline in performance
• Furthermore, Hayden struggled to rehydrate after the race, with some bad stomach discomfort and difficulty peeing afterwards
• Going forwards, Hayden should look to undertake some more sweat rate testing in race-like conditions to more closely understand his fluid losses, and thus adjust his drink consumption accordingly
• Logistically, carrying extra bottles will also help in these situations, even if it means carrying empty Soft Flasks that he doesn’t use, it would potentially alleviate situations like this

Fueling

Conclusions

• Overall, Hayden found it difficult to summarise his thoughts on this race, with large amounts of frustration over not using a backpack which would have allowed him to carry more fluids
• But he countered this with great satisfaction in how his legs and body responded, as he still ran his way to an incredibly fast time and what would have been a course record. He summarised his satisfaction rating it 7/10, leaving him hungry to improve, and thankfully knowing what aspects to target for this desired improvement