• 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

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