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Jake Best's scorecard

World Record Marathon (carrying 40lbs)

Sunday 20th March, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

  • 101g

    Carb per hour
  • 399mg

    Sodium per hour
  • 249ml

    Fluid per hour
  • 1,601mg/L

    Relative sodium concentration
  • 0mg/kg

    Caffeine per bodyweight
  • How Jake hit those numbers

    finish
    star
    bottle
     
    500ml x PH 1500 (Tablet)
    1 x Bowl of oats with cinnamon
    1 x Protein energy ball
    1 x Coffee with honey
    500ml x Water with creatine, glutamine and beta alanine
     
     
    4 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
    500ml x PF 30 Energy Drink Mix
    1 x PF 30 Energy Gel
    3 x PF 90 Energy Gel
    500ml x Additional fluid in mixed drinks
    1 x Energy chew packet (48g carb)
    1 x Banana
     

    How Jake's hydration and fueling went...

      • Jake ‘Bionic’ Best could be called the definition of a high level operator, having spent time as a professional boxer, businessman, and endurance athlete, not to mention his time in the military
      • On a mild day in Wareham Forest, he aimed to achieve the fastest known marathon with a 40lbs pack on his back as part of a project that saw him raise over £7,500 and spread awareness in aid of the SBS Association and Rock2Recovery in the process
      • Before his marathon, Jake sat down with the PF&H Sports Science team to fine tune his fueling and hydration strategy for this distance

    Hydration

      • Ahead of the race, Jake successfully preloaded using PH 1500 (tablets) both the evening before and on the morning of the event, ensuring his blood plasma volume was fully topped up for the start line
      • During the run itself, Jake only drank ~249ml/8oz of fluid per hour. Given the mild conditions (10℃ / 50°F and 53% humidity), his sweat losses would have been on the lower side so dehydration wouldn’t have presented a particularly big problem for him over this period. However, if it had been much warmer, Jake knows he would have needed to be more proactive with his fluid replacement
      • Utilising PF 30 Energy Drink Mix in a 500ml/16oz bottle meant that Jake was able to consume fluid, carb and sodium in one hit to cover all three ‘levers’ of endurance fueling at once, something which he practised achieving in training
      • Jake's Sweat Test results showed that he needs to pay attention to his sodium intake as he's a very salty sweater, losing 1,679mg/L of sweat
      • He did a good job of replacing his sodium losses by taking a proactive approach, by consuming an appropriate relative sodium concentration of ~1,601mg/L, which was largely achieved using electrolyte capsules

    Fueling

    Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

    None

    carb 30 mins before

    30-60g

    carb per hour during
      • In preparation for the world record attempt, Jake ate a carb-rich dinner of pizza the night before, prior to a breakfast consisting of oats, toast, a protein energy ball, some supplements, and a strong coffee with honey. This carb loading, helped to maximise his glycogen stores before he got to the start line
      • After his initial discussion with the team and feedback from his first three successful world records over the 5km, 10km and half-marathon distances, Jake took the knowledge provided and ‘ran’ with it. Undergoing some gut training before the WR attempt, which helped him hit an impressive 101g carbs per hour during his 4-hour marathon
      • This carbohydrate intake mainly consisted of PF 90 Gels and PF 30 Gels as well as a banana. This is an impressive intake which exceeds the recommendations of our Fuel & Hydration Planner for an event of this duration and intensity. Due to the positive association between carb intake and performance, this will have contributed to maintenance of his energy levels allowing him to avoid bonking on his big day
      • Jake didn’t have any caffeine during the race, which is something that may have provided an extra ergogenic benefit as he tolerates it well in day to day life. For an event of this duration, the general guidelines are to hit between 3-6mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. To utilise the benefits of caffeine in future, Jake could swap a couple of his regular PF 30 gels for PF 30 Caffeine Gels. It is important to remember that individual caffeine tolerance should be known before using in competition

    Conclusions

      • Jake’s fantastic performance helped him obliterate the previous record by an impressive 1 hour and 31 minutes! Throughout the record breaking run, he implemented an effective fueling and hydration strategy to push above the general carb recommendations and replace a good proportion of his high sodium losses
      • In future, Jake may consider adding caffeine to his fueling strategy if he feels it’s appropriate for him to use (although losing the 40lbs of weight on his back might help him go faster too…)

    Key info

    Jake Best

    Male
    78kg
    Sweat sodium concentration
    1,679mg/L
    Sweat sodium classification
    Very High
    * determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

    Result

    Overall Time
    4:01:20

    Event information

    Sport
    Running
    Discipline
    Marathon
    Event
    World Record Marathon (carrying 40lbs)
    Location
    Wareham, England
    Date
    20th March, 2022
    Total Distance
    42.2km / 26.2mi

    Race conditions

    Weather Conditions
    Mild
    Precipitation
    No Rain
    Min Temp
    9°C / 48°F
    Max Temp
    11°C / 52°F
    Avg Temp
    10°C / 50°F
    Humidity
    53%

    Athlete feedback

    Race Satisfaction
    9/10
    Hydration rating
    6/10
    I don't think I drank as much as I should have
    Energy levels
    7/10
    Really good energy levels throughout even though I started faster than intended
    Toilet stops
    No
    GI comfort
    10/10
    Cramping
    Mild cramps that I could push through

    Jake's full stats

     Carbohydrate (g)Sodium (mg)Fluid (ml)Caffeine (mg)Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
    Overall
    Total intake4051,6011,00001,601
    Per hour1013992490

    Data Confidence

    marker-icon

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    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.

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