When you’re gearing up for a race as demanding as the Devizes to Westminster (DW) Canoe Race, preparation goes beyond just training on the water. Fueling starts before you’ve stepped foot in your boat - making it a key part of race planning. A solid nutrition strategy before and during the race is important to ensure your body is primed to take on and complete such an endurance feat.
The challenges of fueling the DW Canoe Race
“The world’s longest non-stop canoe race,” the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race is an iconic endurance challenge held annually in the UK. Covering 125 miles, paddlers navigate 77 locks and weirs as they journey from Devizes in Wiltshire to finish under Westminster Bridge in London.
Competitors choose between different race formats, including a relay option or the continuous, time-trial style race, where teams paddle through the night. Several members of the PF&H team have had a crack at this, with Andy and Jonny racing this as a pair a few years back, and ‘Decoy’ Dave also completing it twice. In this blog, we’ll focus on fueling for the flagship continuous event.
The continuous DW race requires anywhere from ~16 to more than 30 hours of sustained energy output. But, unlike traditional endurance races, the 77 portages (where you run around locks or weirs with your boat) significantly alter the physiological demands.
Although there are some longer sections of paddling where athletes can settle into a consistent effort, there are prolonged periods of the race where the course makes this tricky. The race follows the Kennet and Avon Canal for ~52 miles; once through the first 14 miles of canal section from the start, athletes are faced by 57 locks before they join the River Thames, near Reading. After this, there's another 20 locks before reaching the finish in Westminster.
As a result, rather than maintaining a consistent effort, paddlers must repeatedly switch between:
- Sustained paddling efforts of 2–14 miles between locks
- Short bursts of high-intensity activity to navigate the locks, including lifting and carrying their boats
- Brief stops while manoeuvring through the lock system
This phase of the race is particularly stop-start, and perhaps more like a prolonged interval session than a continuous endurance effort. Each lock forces a brief pause, but rather than providing actual recovery, it demands bursts of strength and coordination. This creates a more intermittent exercise profile, which alters fuel utilisation patterns and subsequently impacts energy and hydration needs differently than other more steady-state endurance races like a marathon or IRONMAN®.
Despite paddling at a relatively low intensity - low enough to be sustained for the extended duration of the DW race (i.e., below LT1 - the point during exercise when your body starts to shift from very easy effort to moderate, as it begins producing a small amount of lactate) - the overall energy demands of prolonged paddling-based sports remains substantial. Research in rowers suggests that even at low intensities, athletes burn ~15 calories (kcal) per minute, equating to 900 kcal per hour. This is shown to be higher than the energy expenditure during cycling at the same relative intensity. Although this data comes from rowing rather than paddling, the measured intensity is comparable to what we expect during the DW, making it a useful reference for estimating total energy expenditure.
Another study using kayaking offers a more relevant comparison. It reported an average energy expenditure of ~339 kcal over 19.5 minutes, equating to approximately 1,042 kcal per hour. Using this, and the above data on rowers, the likely cumulative energy burn over the course of the race is staggering:
- Fast crews (~14 hours of paddling): ~12,500-14,500 kcal burned
- Mid-pack crews (~20 hours): ~18,000-21,000 kcal burned
- Slower crews (30+ hours): ~27,000-31,1000 kcal burned
These figures highlight the immense metabolic cost of the event, reinforcing the importance of pre-race carb-loading and aggressive fueling during the race to sustain performance and prevent complete depletion of glycogen (carbohydrate) stores.
To put this into perspective, if energy costs are this high, even the fastest competitors will deplete their entire glycogen stores within a few hours and unless they fuel aggressively during the event, they’ll suffer from acute low energy availability. Without sufficient carb intake, performance will rapidly decline, increasing the risk of ‘hitting the wall’ (bonking) and impairing their decision-making, coordination and efficiency, all of which is critical for navigating the locks and completing the event.
With the extreme energy demands of the DW in mind, what are the high level considerations for your nutrition strategy?
- Carb-loading ahead of the event will be critical to starting well-fueled and supporting the high energy costs of paddling
- Frequent surges in effort will require rapid-access energy sources (e.g., gels, chews, or energy drink mixes)
- Since fueling must work around transitions and effort spikes, digestion rates will fluctuate, requiring a mixture of fuel sources
- There is a risk of under-fueling, as the intermittent nature of the race may lead paddlers to neglect their nutrition during more technical sections
- Plan your fuel, hydration and caffeine intake efficiently to limit energy dips, and use a mix of sports nutrition products and real food to overcome flavour fatigue
So, the best fueling strategy must factor in both the long-haul energy demands and the interval-style surges unique to the DW race. Let’s get into the details...
How to START fueled
With relentless paddling, frequent portages, and unpredictable British weather, proper fueling is as important as paddling technique. What you consume in the 48 hours before the race will affect how your race plays out.
As we’ve explained before, your body relies on glycogen stored in the muscles and liver to fuel hard efforts. Carbohydrate loading is essential to provide sustained energy, delay fatigue, and contribute to ensuring hydration levels are also high before starting, since carbohydrates effectively ‘hold’ water in your body.
Begin carb-loading ~48 hours before the race with high-carb, low-fat, low-fibre foods. Our usual carb-loading recommendations suggests aiming for 8-12 grams of carb per kg of body weight per day, but the previously mentioned research in rowers would suggest that you should be aiming for the top end at 12g/kg/day. The focus should be on increasing intake by adjusting macronutrient balance, rather than overall food volume.
On race morning, eat a carb-rich meal 2-3 hours before your start time to ensure your energy stores are topped up. Just before setting off, have a small dose of carbs, such as a PF 30 Chew or PF 30 Gel. Stick to familiar, easily digestible foods - race day is not the time to experiment with anything new. Planning ahead will help reduce stress and ensure optimal fueling.
Beyond energy, hydration is also critical. The DW is famous for extremely variable weather conditions so plan for every eventuality to avoid being caught out. Starting the race even slightly dehydrated can compromise your endurance capabilities throughout the event, particularly during a year with hot weather. Pre-loading will increase the reservoir of fluid for your body to draw from whilst exercising. For more on this, check out Andy’s deep dive on staying hydrated for a long distance canoe race.
How to fuel the DW Canoe Race
Dialing in your fueling strategy will be one of the biggest challenges. It's tricky to pin down an exact amount of carbs to consume per hour, so you’ll need to ensure you practice and experiment with this in training, particularly as every paddler’s needs will differ based on their own physiology, exertion levels, and gut tolerance. However, based on the current research, aiming for 60-90 grams of carb per hour for an event of this duration would be a good place to start.
The aim is to avoid undereating which could lead to fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, and loss of power, especially in cold conditions when the body’s digestion slows down. That being said, if you do feel fatigued given the long duration of exercise, increasing your intake of simple carbs and lowering the intensity of your paddling for a period of time should make you feel better.
The DW isn’t just a test of endurance; it’s a test of strategy. Managing nutrition on the water is just as challenging as the paddling itself. It’s common to lose your appetite during endurance exercise with many research studies illustrating this suppression of hunger. This could make it easy to forget to eat, so setting reminders on a watch for every 20-30 minutes will be helpful to fuel consistently. Additionally, including some ‘treat’ foods can help boost morale and encourage you to eat when your appetite dips.
Although warmth and sunshine would make this race all-the-more enjoyable, given it’s in the UK and is held in early spring, the expected colder conditions could affect your energy demands. Exercising in cold weather will increase your energy needs as your body works harder to stay warm, while also reducing dexterity in your hands, possibly making it harder to open food packets. Choosing easy-to-open foods and using bite valves or soft flasks for hydration and carb intake will help here.
Flavour fatigue is another issue we need to consider. Eating the same foods for hours on end can (and probably will) make you lose interest and motivation for eating. Including a variety of flavours and textures will hopefully keep things appealing to you, so try to incorporate some sweet, salty, and savoury options (e.g., chews, salted potatoes, chocolate, crackers). Testing a variety of foods during training will ensure you don’t end up dreading every bite!
One of the biggest challenges of the DW is eating while paddling. Since stopping frequently on the water isn’t an option, and taking your hands off the paddles will be both difficult and counter-productive, your fuel supplies need to be accessible and easy to consume. The instability of the canoe will mean that biting into and unravelling something could also be tricky, so soft foods and using drinks to get some carbs in will be sensible. Take advantage of time off the boat at the locks to both fuel, and replenish your resources from your crew.
Most portages provide an opportunity to pick up more fuel from your support crew but planning a solid strategy in advance is absolutely key to getting it right on the day. Experienced crews will fly through portages with close to zero stationary time. Practicing your portage technique and fueling process with your support crews ahead of the race will save you precious minutes and reduce the risk of you missing a feed. Unlike many endurance events where a more fixed fueling strategy can be followed, DW paddlers must also be prepared to adapt their intake as the race unfolds at intensity changes throughout.
Solutions for carrying your fuel:
- Soft flasks & hydration vests to carry carb-rich drinks for easy fueling
- Bite valves/straws to attach to your hydration vest for hands-free drinking
- Pockets in your life vest or boat will be helpful to store small snacks in easy-to-reach places
- Waterproof sandwich bags can help store food in small portions for quick access
Should you use caffeine?
Caffeine can be a useful tool to maintain focus, but tolerance varies. A good starting point is smaller doses (50-100mg) every 3-4 hours to avoid large spikes and crashes, or timing it for key moments:
- 6-8 hours in (~30 miles) – a small caffeine boost to maintain focus
- Before the overnight section – to help sustain alertness in the dark
- Final push to Westminster – a last kick of energy when fatigue is highest
Caffeinated gels, or drinks work well, but make sure to test your tolerance during training to avoid negative side effects.
Real Foods vs. Sports Nutrition Products
Both real food and sports nutrition play a role in keeping you fueled throughout the DW. The key is variety, digestibility, and eating what you enjoy to avoid flavour fatigue. At crewed stops, incorporating warm, cooked foods will be helpful for this. Salted options can also help replace lost electrolytes so focus on incorporating a mixture into your plan.
A fueling plan for the DW Canoe Race
Below is a sample 20-hour fueling plan averaging ~75g/h. Use it as a template and adjust based on your needs and preferences…
How to start and stay hydrated
Hydration is just as crucial as fueling. Below are key guidelines, but for a deep dive, check out our full guide on staying hydrated for a long distance canoe race.
Key Hydration Guidelines:
- Preload with a strong sodium-based electrolyte drink (e.g., PH 1500) the night before and on race morning
- Aim for 500-750ml of fluid per hour, adjusting based on weather conditions, sweat rate, and thirst
- Drink small amounts consistently rather than large gulps to make it easier on the stomach and help maintain steady hydration
- Include electrolytes to replace sodium and prevent cramping through any preferable source (electrolyte tablets, powders, soups, salty foods)
- Include variety to prevent flavour fatigue and ensures you drink consistently
- Don’t just drink plain water - this could dilute sodium levels and lead to hyponatremia
As stated in the DW guide, every paddler should carry an emergency supply of fuel and hydration beyond their planned intake to ensure you stay fueled if conditions change or are delayed between crew stops. It should include:
- 300ml of water
- One energy gel per paddler
- A small pack of high-calorie food (e.g., trail mix or energy bar)
Key takeaways
- Aim for 60-90g of carbs per hour - adjust based on training experience and gut training
- Mix real food with sports nutrition to maintain variety and avoid flavour fatigue
- Keep fuel accessible - use hydration vests, soft flasks, and easy-to-reach pockets
- Avoid undereating by aiming for a steady, consistent fuel intake
- Hydrate strategically - include electrolytes and drink small, frequent amounts
- Utilise your crew throughout - warm food and drink can boost morale and performance
- Use caffeine wisely - test your tolerance and time doses strategically
- After successfully finishing the race, your body will need some time to rehydrate and refuel to recover
Need help fine-tuning your fuel and hydration strategy for your race? Book a free one-to-one video call with our team, or email us at hello@pfandh.com - we’re happy to help!.
