Sam Hill's scorecard
Cape Wrath Ultra (Day 2)
Monday 22nd May, 2023
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 74gCarb per hour
- 267mgSodium per hour
- 389mlFluid per hour
- 686mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 0mgTotal caffeine
How Sam hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
500ml x PH 1500 Tablet
1 x Portion of Baked Beans
2 x Hash Browns
1 x Banana
1 x Serving of Cornflakes
500ml x English Tea
Race - During
1L x PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
3 x PF 30 Chews
1 x PF 90 Gel
2L x Plain water
2 x Energy chew packet (45g carb)
1 x Energy gel (20g carb)
6.5 x Energy chew (7g carb)
4 x Electrolyte Capsule (50mg sodium)
2 x Protein Flapjack Bar
2 x Caramel Waffle
2 x Salt and Vinegar Crisp packet
2 x Vegan Cookie (23g carb)
- Sam is a running coach and professional photographer who took part in the epic Cape Wrath Ultra in the Highlands of Scotland
- This event is a 400km (249 mile), eight day ultramarathon which starts at the foot of Britain’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, in Fort William and winds its way up the west coast of Scotland to the most north westerly point of the UK, finishing at the namesake of the event, Cape Wrath
- Sam recorded exactly what he ate and drank on day 2 of this event when he ran 57km (35.5 miles) from the town of Glenfinnan to Kinloch Hourn, conquering an elevation gain of ~1900m (~6234ft) as part of his efforts which led him to claim 3rd place position for the whole event
Hydration
- As part of his preparations for this race, Sam caught up with the Sports Science team at PF&H who helped him understand the importance of starting each day of a multi day event optimally hydrated, in order to overcome the ‘stepwise’ dehydration that can occur if you aren’t diligent with your strategy
- This meant that Sam made it a habit to ‘bookend’ his days with PH 1500 (tablets) to boost his blood plasma volume and reset his hydration ahead of his next run
- During the 7 hours 43 minutes he spent running on day two, Sam relied on a combination of PF 60 Drink Mix as well as plain water with Electrolyte Capsules to hit his fluid and electrolyte targets
- This resulted in him drinking an average of ~389ml (14oz) of fluid each hour, with a relative sodium concentration of ~686 milligrams of sodium per litre (mg/32oz)
- While Sam hasn’t had a Sweat Test and so doesn’t know exactly what his own sweat sodium profile is, during this race he had zero cramping and wasn’t excessively peeing, which suggests that he replaced a good proportion of the electrolytes that he was losing through sweating, relative to the water he drank
- One of the difficulties of some ultramarathon running events is being self-sufficient from start to finish. Sam personally found it difficult during this race to carry what he thought was an adequate amount of electrolytes with him at the time
- In future events, he can be confident in taking a tube of effervescent tablets (*being mindful of them shifting up and down as he runs*), or the waterproof individual servings of his preferred PH 1000 (Drink Mix) in his running pack
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- Leading into an event where he knew he would undoubtedly deplete his muscle and liver carbohydrate stores, Sam wanted to start the event with these as full as possible. This meant he carb-loaded in the days prior to the race
- Sam had already run 37km (23 miles) on day one, when he started noting down his intake for this case study, and so a carb-rich dinner and breakfast made up of things like potato hash browns, a banana and cereal would have helped start to restore the energy he used the day prior
- Because the relative intensity of this ultramarathon was fairly low for Sam, to allow him to run for such a long time, it meant his body had more capacity to tolerate and process ‘real foods’ while he was on the move
- Sam did say afterwards that having spent the last section of this race running with the new female course record holder, Jo Meek, he wished he had consumed less real food and more sports products which would have given him a more instantaneous energy boost
- Sam did use a variety of sports fuel products including some PF 30 Chews and a PF 90 Gel on day two, with differing textures and flavors to help avoid the dreaded ‘taste fatigue’ which can be a real problem in multi-day ultra events like this
- Happily, this strategy paid off, with Sam able to rate his perceived energy levels as an 8 (out of 10) as he averaged ~74g of carb per hour, nearly bang on the Fuel & Hydration Planner’s 75g/h recommendation for a race of this length and intensity
- Despite the ‘pick n mix’ style fueling strategy that Sam employed, he was satisfied with how his stomach tolerated everything he consumed on the day, and even felt he could have eaten more if he’d thought to carry it with him
Conclusions
- On the whole, Sam was pleased with how day two of the Cape Wrath Ultra played out, averaging ~74g of carb per hour with appropriate hydration for the conditions and making it into camp in the 3rd place position he would later claim for the whole event
- Sam’s strategy would adapt slightly as the days went on and his body adjusted to the multi day race format, which you can read more about via his account of [day 6]()
Key info
Sam Hill
Male
Result
Position3rd
Overall Time7:43:00
Event information
SportRunning
DisciplineUltra
EventCape Wrath Ultra (Day 2)
LocationHighlands, Scotland
Date22nd May, 2023
Total Distance57.0km / 35.4mi
Total Elevation1,900m / 6,234ft
Race conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationNo Rain
Min Temp8°C / 46°F
Max Temp14°C / 57°F
Avg Temp12°C / 54°F
Humidity60%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction10/10
Hydration rating7/10I only pee'd once on course
Energy levels8/10
Toilet stopsYes
GI comfort8/10
CrampingNo cramping
Sam's Thoughts
I couldn't have hoped for it to go much better!
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.