What do you eat on Ultras?

A question often posed and there is no right or wrong answer, but here are some thoughts of mine which I hope might be useful.


First of all, I try to eat 'proper' food and a mixture of savoury and sweet items. On the Montane Cheviot Goat Ultra, this is an example of some of the food that I consumed. (Obviously, there was much more).

I always have a selection of 'bars' (individually wrapped items) such as :

• Frusli cereal bars - mixed flavours. I might not eat the whole bar at once, but eat it in pieces every 40 mins or so from the start.
• Ritz biscuits or similar cheesy biscuits. I probably wouldn't eat all of these as they are quite dry, but I think it is good to have something salty to eat.
• mixed bag of sweets e.g. Haribo, popcorn, chocolate peanuts and raisins, jelly sweets, twirl bites etc. I use these as a treat and have a handful when walking uphill sections or if I am feeling a bit lacking in energy.
• snack size chocolate bars. I use various different ones, but in the photo there are Tesco versions of Mars and Snickers.
• Soreen malt loaf, lunch box size - best eaten with a drink as they do stick round your teeth!
• Torq apple crumble gels. These are the only brand of gels that I use and I carry them in case I feel really fatigued. I have found over the last couple of years that when I was struggling, they have given me a bit of a boost.

Other favourites include :

• French Fries or Hula Hoops - another salty snack option.
• small cheese and pickle sandwiches - sandwich thins 'stay put' quite well.
• Capri Sun drinks pouch - full of sugar and tastes lovely when you are tired !
• black coffee or flat coke, if available at checkpoints
• hot cross buns, sometimes with cheese inside.
• Graze snacks as they have a mixture of tastes in them and are 'interesting' to eat.

Personally, I drink water throughout the event as I don't like the taste of other sports drinks after a while.

What to wear - winter kit clothing dilemmas

I'm not a kit expert and usually use my 'old faithfuls' which have served me well for lots of long races and runs, but recent Winter races have had me worrying about what to wear. I am not bothered about looking glamorous and co-ordinated, but am concerned about being warm enough and being able to complete my run in relative comfort (at least not too much discomfort!) I also recognise the necessity of being prepared for any eventuality and having enough kit in case of emergency. The Montane Cheviot Goat Ultra was my first real Winter challenge with the potential to have very bad weather for the duration of the event and I knew that if I got my kit choice wrong, I could have to drop out if I got too cold. Using my knowledge from previous Winter outings and a few test runs, such as the recce run and the Wooler Trail marathon, I had developed a better idea of what I might need.


The photo shows the kit that I used for the Montane Cheviot Goat Ultra

For the race, I wore an X-bionic short sleeve top with a thermal long sleeve over the top. I always had my OMM Kamlieka race smock on, but added another gilet underneath for the night section. I was never too hot (it is important not to sweat) nor too cold, but I actually think that the weather was quite good for the race and would have needed more layers if it had been windy. I was carrying a windproof long sleeve Haglofs top as an extra layer. I wore full length Salomon running tights for no particular reason, other than these were the ones that I have ! I would probably recommend some thermal leggings or ones with windproof 'patches' on them in worse conditions. I chose full length tights as I didn't expect the ground to be very wet (because it was frozen in most parts). In wet conditions, I would consider other options as soggy leggings would not be pleasant if you were constantly running through ankle-deep wet bogs! I was really worried about having freezing cold feet and having to drop out through getting too cold. I couldn't decide what to do, but decided to stick with what I knew and chose my thickest pair of injinji toe socks, which ended up being great. I wore inov8 mudclaws for the whole race as they were comfortable and as we were fast and efficient through the checkpoint, I kept the same socks and shoes on as they were working well and there was no reason to change them for the night section. I also wore a combination of my trusty pink buff, a woolly hat that had a thermal lining (a last minute, life saving purchase for £1.38 from my local outdoor shop!), a fleece ear warmer and my hood at various times during the race. I have some gloves that have a mitten outer that you can pull over your fingers that I wore as they allow you to use your fingers which is really important otherwise it is easy not to eat because you physically just can't with mittens on. For the night section, I wore OMM Kamleika waterproof trousers for added warmth when the mist and snow blew in. I also used Black Diamond z poles throughout the race which were essential, in my opinion, to help stability in the ice and snow and also to test out the depth of the snow or thickness of the ice.


Of course, there is also the required kit to carry in ultras. I have used the Salomon s-lab 12 set for years now and really love it. I use water in the bladder but also carried a folding cup for speedy refilling (hot or cold) at fuel 'stops'. I can get all of my kit in the bag, but of course my kit is quite small! The bag doesn't bounce and the straps don't rub at all. I put my spare clothes inside a dry bag. For this race, I had the Haglofs windproof top, Buffalo mitts, a larger long sleeve top which would fit over all of my layers, thin gloves and another hat.
I also had a waterproof map (OL16) with the route marked onto it, compass, GPS (with the route pre-loaded), iPhone (with OS Locate app downloaded, stored in a fabric glasses case and plastic bag), 2 headtorches (Petzl Nao for the night and Petzl tikka which I wore at the start, plus spare batteries wrapped in bubble wrap to keep them warm). I always carry a survival bag, small first aid kit and some baby wipes in a zip lock bag. There is an integral whistle on the bag. I put all of my food (see blog for more food info) in the front pouches and side pockets and can fold up the z poles and store them in the side elastics quite easily and securely.


In my drop bag, I had a full change of clothes in case I was wet or had fallen in a bog! I also had extra food supplies which I re-filled and spare batteries. I had some 'instant' hand warmers which I was quite smug about but never needed them. I was so worried about being cold that I had my Buffalo coat available in case the weather turned really grim. I didn't need it, but it is worth considering that you will be walking a lot if it is snowing and dark and will soon get very cold. I was never cold but if it had actually been snowing then I would have worn the coat. My only concern was that if I needed to take it off, then it wouldn't fit in my bag but I doubt the temperature would change that much during the dark hours.


The kit in action during the Montane Cheviot Goat Ultra -