• Nick had a strong run at the 2021 Virgin London Marathon in a time of 02:33:11. Despite wanting to run sub-2:30 as he had previously, he was satisfied with his performance and rated his race satisfaction a 7 out of 10 when balancing out missing his goal time and actual performance with the atmosphere and event as a whole
• He did experience some GI issues during the event, rating his GI comfort just 5, and had to back off from his fueling around the ~29km point as a result. But, this subsided after relieving himself and he managed to continue and finish strongly
• In this event, Nick mixed up his fueling strategy, opting to use almost solely energy gels for his carbs versus previously using liquid carbs in the form of an energy drink mix

Hydration

• Nick drank ~353ml/hr (~12oz/hr) across the race which he achieved by drinking a cup of water alongside each gel he consumed, plus two cups collected at other aid stations. Roughly this worked out as water drunk at every other aid station which given the milder conditions is a sensible strategy
• Whilst on the lower side of an optimal fluid intake for a race of this duration, ~353ml/hr (~12oz/hr) would be considered pretty good given that drinking any more than this whilst running at this pace (3:38 min/km) can be difficult
• Overall, when asked, Nick felt he hydrated well enough and reported never feeling thirsty which suggests he did a good job of keeping on top of his fluid losses
• Alongside his fluid intake, Nick took two PH electrolyte capsules to tackle his sodium losses. He had also preloaded before the event with [PH1000]​​(https://www.precisionhydration.com/collections/1000s/). Whilst this isn’t completely in line with our recommendations (PH1500 mixed in 500ml/16oz plain water) it will have topped up his sodium and fluid levels enough to start him in a relatively good place hydration-wise (better than fluids devoid of electrolytes would have)
• On the surface this is a somewhat low sodium intake but accounting for the lower than average volume of fluid Nick consumed, this equated to a relative sodium concentration of ~621mg/L which for a race of this duration and moderate conditions, is an adequate sodium intake for someone who isn’t too much of a salty, heavy sweater
• Nick did report experiencing some twinges of muscle cramp in his inner thighs towards the end of the race but said this is something he experiences quite regularly and is an indication of fatigue and to not to speed up

Fueling

Conclusions

• Nick had a good race at the London marathon. His sodium, fluid and carb intakes could have been dialled up marginally to optimally meet his needs but overall he adequately met all three which when running at this pace is an achievement in itself
• Nick had a plan prior to the event, had tested this in some training and then proceeded to implement it on the day. Unfortunately, he did experience some gut discomfort, possibly as a result of mixing up his usual marathon strategy (liquid carbs) to gels