Jake Best
World Record Marathon (carrying 40lbs)
Jake's headline numbers
Jake's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
In preparation for his world record marathon carrying 40lbs, Jake carb loaded to maximise his glycogen stores before approaching the start line. After his initial discussion with the PF&H team and learnings from his first three successful world records over the 5km, 10km and half-marathon distances, Jake took the knowledge provided and ‘ran’ with it. He incorporated gut training, which enabled him to hit ~101g carbs per hour during his four hours racing. This is an impressive intake which exceeds the recommendations of our Fuel & Hydration Planner for an event of this duration and intensity. (However, considering the added stimulus of carrying 40lbs, the intensity was likely a bit higher than the traditional marathon!) Due to the positive correlation with increasing carb intake and performance, it's likely his high intake would have helped him avoid the dreaded bonk on his big day and support his 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.
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Given Jake’s losses are Very High (1,679mg/L), nailing his hydration strategy remains important, even when it’s Mild.
Learn moreGiven the mild conditions, Jake's sweat losses would've been on the lower side, so despite his relatively low fluid intake, he would have still been within the reccomendations and avoided accumulating enough dehydration to negatively impact performance. Additionally, he did well to take in a high concentration of sodium within the fluid he did drink, matching his salty sweat and encouraging a bit of water retention. However, if it had been much warmer, Jake knows he would have needed to be more proactive with his fluid replacement and plans to do so at his 24-hour record attempt where building up a deficit could have a much greater impact with the race duration.
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.
Jake didn't have any caffeine during the marathon, but since he tolerates it well in day-to-day life and enjoys it, he could look to introduce this in future races. For an event of this duration, the general guidelines are to consume between 3-6mg of caffeine per kilogram of bodyweight. To utilise the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant in future, Jake could swap a couple of his regular PF 30 Gels for PF 30 Caffeine Gels.
How Jake hit his numbers
Here's everything that Jake ate and drank on the day...
Jake's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HJake's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.