Robbie Britton
IAU 24H World Championships
Robbie's headline numbers
Robbie's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Robbie had a tough battle with gastrointestinal issues which began the day before the event and persisted throughout the race, which he and other members of the team unfortunately put down to some poor quality hotel food. As an experienced athlete, Robbie maintained a consistently high carbohydrate intake in an attempt to keep his energy levels up, despite the toilet visits. His crew did a great job of providing Robbie with Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, Gels, Chews and sweets to hit above the recommended carb level. He even reached an average of ~100g/h over the final six hours as he pushed hard to help the British team claim the bronze medal.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Robbie’s losses are on the moderate side, getting his hydration strategy right is still crucial when it’s hot and/or humid as his higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreDue to the GI issues caused by the pre-race hotel food, Robbie made many trips to the portaloo over the course of the event, which he felt greatly dehydrated him. In an attempt to thwart this and keep on top of his fluid losses, Robbie drank an average of ~400ml per hour, but at times was having as little as ~283ml/h when his stomach was really struggling, whilst towards the end he was drinking just over 500ml/h. This was a similar fluid intake to his previous 24-hour run, but this time in warmer and more humid conditions. He may have benefited from more fluid, including plain water and hypotonic drinks, but considering Robbie’s bathroom troubles he did well to avoid any serious hydration-related issues. This could, in part, be a result of Robbie’s proactive sodium consumption at a concentration similar to that of his sweat to help his body retain water.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
As we’d expect to see in an event of this duration, Robbie pushed above the stimulant’s general intake guidelines. However, these guidelines are primarily designed for shorter events, and we have seen a trend of ultra-endurance athletes surpassing the recommendations without issue. Robbie timed his caffeine doses well throughout, primarily using it in the second half of the race when he was at his “lowest points mentally” in order to give himself a physical and psychological boost.
How Robbie hit his numbers
Here's everything that Robbie ate and drank on the day...
Robbie's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Robbie's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.