South Downs Way 100

Sarah, who holds the world record for the furthest distance run around a track in 24 hours by a female, smashed the British 100-mile record to win the South Downs Way 100 in blistering time of 14:27:34. To support her energy levels throughout the race, Sarah adopted a very simple fueling strategy. She set an alarm on her watch for every 30 minutes as a reminder to have a PF 30 Gel, or on three occasions a PF 30 Caffeine Gel. During her 24-hour world record, Sarah leaned more heavily on real foods whereas this time, despite having other foods as options, she decided to stick to gels for efficiency and ease. This demonstrates how fueling strategies should be adapted to the needs of each individual race and how with consistent gut training, gels can be tolerated over prolonged durations. As she builds to the World 100km Championships in September, Sarah could look to increase her carb intake towards 90g/h in order to support the greater intensity of that race.

Preloading with 500ml of PH 1500 the night before and morning of an endurance event ensures you start optimally hydrated; this is a protocol Sarah would benefit from adding to her pre-race routine. Sarah carried two Flow Flask 120s throughout, one filled with PH 1000 and the other with water; during the first three hours she only drank the PH 1000 flask which would have provided ~250ml per hour, likely a lot lower than her sweat rate and therefore causing dehydration to accumulate. When the temperature started to rise, Sarah drank both flasks each hour. Whilst this fluid intake was more appropriate, the relative sodium concentration of her drinks averaged out to ~679mg/L which is ~300mg/L below her sweat sodium concentration of 962mg/L. Sarah experienced cramping from ~50 miles to ~75 miles; she attributed them mainly to her pacing but cramps are multifactorial, and she recognised that her fluid and sodium deficits would’ve accumulated by halfway and could’ve also been contributing. For future races, Sarah should do more sweat rate testing to dial in her fluid losses and therefore how much to drink per hour in different conditions, and aim to take on a relative sodium concentration of ~1,000mg/L to avoid symptoms of dehydration.

Caffeine provides ergogenic effects which are particularly useful during endurance events like this one as it can reduce perception of fatigue, allowing athletes to push harder when it gets really tough. Sarah used caffeine strategically during the South Downs Way 100, taking on three PF 30 Caffeine Gels. She spaced these caffeine doses out by having the gels at 4.5, 8.5 and 11.5 hours which meant the effects would have peaked when she needed them most towards the end of the 100 miles. Cola also contributed to Sarah’s caffeine intake, tipping her slightly above the recommended range of 3-6mg per kg bodyweight, but she tolerates caffeine well and going over the recommended dose isn’t uncommon for races of this length.