CCC by UTMB®

Having placed 9th at CCC in 2024, Lotti was able to refine her fueling strategy and make a few improvements to help her reach her goal of finishing over an hour quicker in 2025. After aiming to hit higher fueling numbers in training, she consumed ~82g/h and ~88g/h at her Tarawera and Desert Rats 100km races respectively earlier this year, and she went into this 100km with the confidence to aim for ~85g/h.

Over the first ~6 hours, before the crewed checkpoint at Champex-Lac, she averaged ~75g/h, only falling short of her plan due to the carbohydrates left in her gel packets (we weighed all her empty flasks and gel wrappers to more accurately measure her intake). She then increased her intake to ~106g/h between checkpoints 1 and 2, with the help of some additional cola from her crew, before dropping to ~66g/h and ~50g/h for the final ~4 hours of the race. This decrease in carb intake came as she deviated from the plan slightly by not having two of her planned PF 30 Gels when she was busy hunting down runners and moving up the field from 9th to 6th. Her higher carb intake before the second checkpoint and her consistent intake until near the finish allowed her to maintain her energy levels and hold her pace to the end.

Lotti’s hydration strategy involved carrying two 500ml soft flasks - one containing over-concentrated PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix and the other plain water - from the start and she then picked up more soft flasks from each of the three crewed checkpoints. On top of this, she utilised water stops to fill up four times with plain water, which she drank alongside Electrolyte Capsules to continue to replace her high sweat sodium losses. Often taking two capsules at a time, the relative sodium concentration of her intake fluctuated from section to section, but the average across the whole race was very close to her sweat sodium concentration, which we’ve measured with a Sweat Test.

The race started at 9am in mild, early-morning conditions before rising to peak at 18℃ / 64°F in the early afternoon) as Lotti was approaching the first crewed aid station at Champex-Lac (54.7km). To account for this, she filled up with plain water twice in quick succession before seeing her crew for the first time and then increased her intake ahead of the second crewed checkpoint to over 500ml/h. From here temperatures decreased and it started to rain, so Lotti dropped her fluid intake to not overdrink in the cooling conditions to average just under 400ml/h. Subjectively, Lotti felt this was suitable for her in these conditions and she reported only peeing twice and never felt thirsty on the day.

Lotti has a high habitual caffeine use and has previously taken doses totalling well over 6mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight in races without issue, demonstrating her strong tolerance to the stimulant. CCC was no different. Across the 12-hour effort, she consumed ~800mg of caffeine in the form of caffeine gels timed strategically throughout the day, often after crewed aid stations. While this total dose may appear high, the goal over such long events is to maintain circulating caffeine at the recommended blood concentrations where the stimulant improves focus, concentration and boosts perceived energy levels (~3-6mg/kg). As caffeine has a half-life of ~4-5 hours, it gets metabolised and the circulating levels decline throughout a race of this duration, but Lotti’s tactical timing and drip-feeding approach will have countered that to stay within the desired, effective range. With no negative side effects, this was a well-executed individualised strategy for Lotti that kept her buzzing until the post-race celebrations.