Cork Marathon

Jack, our Head of Wholesale & Pro Sport, nailed his carb load leading into the Cork Marathon. He executed his first two-day carb loading protocol with 10g of carb per kg bodyweight each day in the 48 hour window before the race to optimise his muscle glycogen stores. A carb-rich breakfast, followed by a PF 30 Caffeine Gel within 30 minutes of the race meant Jack crossed the start line ready to push hard from the off. During the race, he carried two Flow Flask 120s, each containing ~90g carb from PF 300 Flow Gel as well as one PF 30 Caffeine Gel; this was a very efficient fuelling method, meaning he could carry just two small flasks but take on the equivalent dose of eight PF 30 Gels! This strategy provided him with ~96g/h, a ~36g carb per hour increase in his intake from London Marathon 2025. This higher intake, made possible through structured gut training, will have better supported Jack’s energy levels and facilitated his ten minute personal best.

Jack has a very high sweat rate (~3.5L/h at 38℃ in our heat chamber!) and is also a salty sweater, so his hydration strategy is crucial for success in endurance racing. He started the race well hydrated having preloaded both the night before and morning of the race with 500ml of PH 1500 (Tablet). In Cork’s mild conditions, Jack’s fluid intake of ~389ml/h was appropriate to avoid any symptoms of excessive dehydration. However, ahead of future races he should continue to do sweat rate testing in training to ensure he is replacing enough of his losses to avoid losing more than 2-4% of his body mass. Five Electrolyte Capsules meant the relative sodium concentration of Jack’s drinks averaged ~1136mg/L, close to his sweat sodium concentration of 1248mg/L.

Jack had a coffee and a PF 30 Caffeine Gel before the race, then two more PF 30 Caffeine Gels during to hit the recommended dose of 3-6mg/kg bodyweight. This would have reduced his perception of fatigue especially through the latter phase of the race, when things get really tough.