Pierre Meslet's scorecard
The RAT Plague 100km
Saturday 5th August, 2023
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 80gCarb per hour
- 539mgSodium per hour
- 456mlFluid per hour
- 1,182mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 446mgTotal caffeine
How Pierre hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
1 x Serving of Tapas
0.5 x Pizza
1 x Serving of Iranian potato soup
Race - During
3.75L x PH 1500 (Drink Mix)
1.5 x PF 30 Chews
5 x PF 30 Gel
3 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
2 x PF 90 Gel
1.5L x Cola
0.3 x Ready Salted Crisps (28g carb)
2 x Bag of Chocolate Peanuts (45g serving)
2 x Bag of sweets (40g serving)
0.5 x Potato Hoop Crisps (24g bag)
1 x Milk Chocolate Biscuit
1 x Chocolate Bar (13g carb)
1 x Mini Chocolate Bar (6.5g carb)
2 x Roasted Cashews (45g serving)
- After playing a crucial part in the French team who won the Marathon Des Sables in the Moroccan Desert in 2023, Pierre decided to take on a ‘*shorter*’ challenge at the RAT 100km (62.2 mile) event in the south west of England
- The terrain in Cornwall couldn't have been more different to the Sahara as the coast path offered up a muddy course, but Pierre nailed his strategy to finish in 2nd place in under 12 hours. Pierre was quick to praise his crew (who travelled ~650 miles / 1,050 km from Aberdeen) and he said that they were paramount to him achieving a position on the podium
- Hitting his carb and fluid targets meant Pierre was able to rate his hydration and energy as a perfect 10 (out of 10) for the majority of his run
Hydration
- As someone who's used to racing in temperatures north of 40ºC (104ºF), it was important that Pierre knew his sweat rate would be reduced in the windy and rainy conditions of this race, where temperatures were ~13ºC (46ºF) on average
- This in turn meant he was able to drink on average ~1L (32oz) less fluid per hour than at the Marathon Des Sables earlier in 2023 and still avoid the pitfalls associated with dehydration
- The vast majority of Pierre’s hydration strategy involved using PH 1500 mixed in plain water in his soft flasks, which he regularly topped up. He ended up drinking ~3.75L / 127oz in total
- Pierre chose to use the PH 1500 packets because the single serve sachets are useful for long and wet events such as this one, as they’re ready to mix in 500ml (16oz) of water, contain ~15g of additional carbohydrate, and are waterproof!
- The rest of Pierre’s strategy was made up of three 500ml (16oz) Soft Flasks full of Coca Cola, which he said helped him feel good heading into the final 20km of the race
- In total, Pierre achieved a relative sodium concentration of ~1,182 milligrams per litre (32oz). This was an appropriate concentration for him, as he loses 921mg of sodium in each litre (32oz) of his sweat, as determined by a Sweat Test, so he would have replaced a high proportion of his electrolyte losses
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- Pierre is an experienced endurance athlete who's used to bolstering his stored glycogen by carb loading in the lead up to his events. He's honed his pre-race strategy and he ate a hearty carbohydrate-rich dinner the night before, including half a pizza, some Iranian rice and potato stew, to make sure he had full energy stores come the race-start
- During the race, Pierre decided he would eat a mixture of the sports nutrition products he knows his body tolerates (like PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Chews) as well as tried-and-tested real foods such as chocolate bars and nuts
- Pierre had meticulously planned his nutrition pickups with his crew before the event, who he described as “instrumental” in catching four of his competitors and clawing back a 22-minute deficit to 2nd place at the halfway point
- Despite having 10 (out of 10) energy levels for the vast majority of the race, Pierre said the final 5km (3.1 miles) were tough for him with plenty of fatigue in his legs, and sore feet from running in the heavy rain
- By that point he was trying to hold on to 2nd place, when 3rd tried to overtake him with just 400m to go. Luckily, Pierre said the other runner’s ‘poker face’ wasn’t very good and so with a burst of speed up the final climb he knew he could drop him once more and claim 2nd spot on the podium
- All in all, Pierre managed to average an intake of ~80g of carb per hour, which is close to the Fuel & Hydration Planner’s recommendation for a race of this duration and intensity
Conclusions
- Pierre was happy to nail both his fueling and hydration throughout the 2023 edition of the RAT Plague 100km event, rating his satisfaction as a 10 (out of 10)
- He was very keen to highlight the importance of having a great crew and he praised them for managing to keep his morale high while saving precious time at each checkpoint
Key info
Pierre Meslet
Male
Sweat sodium concentration921mg/L
Sweat sodium classificationModerate
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position2nd
Overall Time11:31:16
Event information
SportRunning
DisciplineUltra
EventThe RAT Plague 100km
LocationCornwall, England
Date5th August, 2023
Total Distance100.0km / 62.1mi
Total Elevation4,382m / 14,377ft
Race conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationRain
Min Temp12°C / 54°F
Max Temp15°C / 59°F
Avg Temp13°C / 55°F
Humidity90%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction10/10
Hydration rating10/10
Energy levels9/10
Toilet stopsYes
GI comfort10/10
CrampingNo cramping
Pierre's Thoughts
Honestly, I think my podium is due to my crew who made sure I had everything I needed and didn't lose any time at the check points
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.