1st

Melinda Marchal's scorecard

Snowdon Ultra 50 Miles

Saturday 3rd September, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

74g

Carb per hour

284mg

Sodium per hour

363ml

Fluid per hour

782mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

400mg

Total caffeine

How Melinda hit those numbers

How Melinda's hydration and fueling went...

Melinda went into the Snowdon Ultra 50-Mile race with high hopes of winning the race and reached out to PF&H to help dial in her fuel and hydration plan to make this happen
Having played 'cat and mouse' with one of her closest rivals throughout the race, Melinda and the other fastest lady on the course decided to cross the finish line together and take the joint-victory after more than 12 hours of racing

Hydration

Ahead of the race, Melinda preloaded her sodium levels with ~500ml/16oz of PH 1500 (Tablet) with her dinner the night before, and with breakfast on the morning of the race. This was to ensure her sodium levels were optimally full, her blood plasma volume was maximised and thus the strain on her cardiovascular system was reduced
During the race, Melinda ran with a backpack to carry her energy supplies and two 500ml/16oz soft flasks, which she filled up regularly at checkpoints along the route
As discussed with the PF&H Sports Science team, her strategy was to always carry one soft flask with plain water and one with PF Energy Drink Mix, to keep her palate fresh and never be “stuck” with one whilst craving the other
This worked well, and in total she drank ~4.5L/158oz of fluid, which equated to ~363ml/12oz per hour. Within this, Melinda also took ~3,518mg of sodium, giving her a relative sodium concentration of ~782mg per litre of fluid she drank
We don’t know Melinda’s sweat sodium concentration as she hasn't had a Sweat Test yet, but given her regular intake of sodium and the mild temperatures (15°C/59°F average), along with her subjective feedback of not cramping or suffering any muscle twinges, it suggests she replaced a good amount of the fluid and sodium she lost through sweat

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

To fuel this epic ultramarathon, Melinda knew she would have to carry the majority of her food and energy products with her from the start. She began by carb-loading for a few days beforehand, maximising her energy stores to utilise during the race
She then further topped off those glycogen stores on race morning by having a plain tortilla wrap for breakfast, alongside her pre-race coffee which would have provided an extra psychological boost when the gun went off. Around 20 minutes before the start, Melinda ensured her blood glucose was peaking by having a PF 30 Gel after she finished her warm up routine
During the race itself, she consumed ~916g of carbohydrates, which worked out as an impressive average of ~74g per hour. This intake is very close to the 75g/h recommendations from our Fuel & Hydration Planner for a race of this length and intensity
Melinda hit this intake by carrying and consuming nine PF 30 Gels, one PF 30 Chew (Original), four PF 30 Caffeine Gels, 18 energy chews (~7g carb each), four energy bars (~34g carb each) and ~3L/105oz of PF Energy Drink Mix
Her strategy was to rotate between a PF 30 Gel, a chew, another gel, then an energy bar whilst sipping on PF Energy Drink Mix to avoid the dreaded “taste fatigue” which can strike during events of this length
Melinda has rigorously trained her gut to absorb this quantity of carb without issue and she rated her gastrointestinal comfort as a solid 9 (out of 10) for the first 10 hours or so. This rating did fall to a 6 out of 10 towards the end as the race “became really tough” and Melinda said she “had to give myself a talking to so I didn’t convince myself to slow down. It was such a mental battle and I reckon that me think that my stomach was feeling bad”

Conclusions

In all, Melinda executed a good fuel and hydration strategy which allowed her to maintain her performance to the very end
Her tough mental attitude also prevailed in the latter stages of the race, and she reeled in the joint-winner with ~1km to go before the pair decided to take the victory together

Key info

Melinda Marchal

Female

Result

Position

1st

Overall Time

12:23:46

Event information

Sport

Running

Discipline

Ultra

Event

Snowdon Ultra 50 Miles

Location

Snowdonia, Wales

Date

3rd September, 2022

Website

Show me

Total Distance

80.5km / 50.0mi

Total Elevation

2,785m / 9,137ft

Race conditions

Weather Conditions

Mild

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

13°C / 55°F

Max Temp

18°C / 64°F

Avg Temp

16°C / 61°F

Humidity

80%

Athlete feedback

Race Satisfaction

9/10

Hydration rating

8/10

Energy levels

8/10

Similarly to GI comfort, I felt fine for the majority or the race aside from a brief spell in the final quarter

Toilet stops

Yes

GI comfort

7/10

First 8 hours I felt great, then I started to feel a bit sick so backed off the carbs slightly before feeling great in the final hour

Cramping

No cramping

Melinda's Thoughts

Crossing the line with Josie seemed only fair as we'd battled hard and came back together within the final km, I felt this was very in the spirit of trail running

Melinda's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	916	3,518	4,500	400	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	782
Per hour	74	284	363	32		782

Data Confidence

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.

Melinda's recent case studies

see all