# Dragon?s Back Race 2012 Nutrition Study



## Northerner (Jun 10, 2013)

Heather Ohly is a Registered Nutritionist who is married to Shane Ohly, the organiser of the Dragon?s Back Race?. As a keen runner herself and with some previous experience of research at mountain running events, Heather was keen to study the nutrition strategies and energy balance of competitors during the 2012 event. She enlisted the help of Nils Swindell, an undergraduate Nutrition student from Plymouth University, who assisted with data collection and analysis.

Introduction
Ultra-distance running in the mountains creates a unique challenge in terms of achieving energy balance. The action of running often makes eating difficult due to loss of appetite, lack of palatability or gastrointestinal discomfort. Add to this the challenges of carrying your own food, with minimal support points, and making decisions about weight versus calories.

The main aim of this study was to measure the energy and nutrient intakes of competitors and compare these with performance. It is not possible to draw conclusions about the effect of nutrition on performance from this kind of observational study, but it may be interesting to see how the nutrition strategies of the faster competitors compared with those of the slower competitors.

http://www.dragonsbackrace.com/articles/dragons-back-race-2012-nutrition-study/


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## Copepod (Jun 10, 2013)

I'm one of the people who "helped and accommodated us at the event" - we all mucked in together to put lots of tents up and down each day, pack up and move kit to next campsite. The researchers helped us general volunteers, as much as we helped them. 

Many of the athletes are personal friends, who put in extra effort to record what they ate from excellent vegetarian caterers who fed all racers and volunteers, collect all food wrappers etc.


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## HOBIE (Jun 10, 2013)

Well Done Copepod !!!    Well done for everyone involved for research etc. It takes some doing running through mountains   I would only do it if the cherakee where after me


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## Copepod (Jun 10, 2013)

DVD of race on sale here http://www.dragonsbackrace.com/shop/ - still haven't got hold of a copy myself. 

However, video of more recent (May Bank Holiday 2013) GL3D race, which involved some of the same people and gives an idea of mountain stage races here http://www.greatlakeland3day.com/media/video/great-lakeland-3day-2013-movie/


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## HOBIE (Jun 10, 2013)

Look very good !  I know that area very well. Sail my catamaran on Derwent water. Have been up all the hillics around but NOT RUNNING. Will look out for it next year.  Am doing Scarfel pike this summer again


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## Copepod (Jun 11, 2013)

Even the fell runners don't run up everything - but always run on flat and downhill, which can be terrifying to watch! Once you get used to fell shoes and positioning your feet carefully, going back to wearing boots feels very heavy and restrictive - but if your ankles are weak, then best stick with boots.


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