Sri Chinmoy 24hr track race: Running around in circles for 24 hours
Battersea After Night star Sarah Funderburk prefers salted potatoes. Brian Robb, the overnight race leader, devoured 57 tubes of yoghurt, a type more commonly found in children’s lunchboxes.
British 24-hour runner and British women’s 100 mile record holder Samantha Hudson dos Santos Figueira (formerly known as Amend) has gone one step further in the past. “I ate baby food during races – because it was so easy to fall.”
In a 24-hour race, eating while walking takes on a very literal meaning. But getting food (or “fuel,” as many call it) into your body isn’t easy, especially after a few hours of pounding.
“It was very difficult for me to chew,” Funderburk, an American who now lives in London, said after the game. “I made a lot of jam tacos, but I just didn’t want to eat them.”
Stokes remembers “I would gag even looking at the food,” while Hudson dos Santos Figueira ate ginger to combat nausea. “I just chewed it – it was disgusting.”
Britton, who coaches some of the best ultrarunners in the world, said: “I mainly eat gels. It’s painful, but you just get in as hard as you can. They taste good, but does it matter? I don’t eat to enjoy it.”
Field, 37, said every long-distance training session is a diet exercise. “I made one and ate a pot of noodles and a pot of rice pudding.”
He stopped just 26 minutes during his record-breaking run. Britton was busy in all but 23 games.
Despite the trackside porch, even those extra footsteps seemed like an unnecessary diversion. Stokes remembers eschewing social graces during a 2018 match that was notorious for bad weather. “It’s late and it’s pouring rain, why should I stop? I’ll pee in my pants.”
Lined along the edge of the track are support staff – often partners or friends who sacrifice their weekends to pull all-nighters.
Some runners arrive with just a plastic bag of snacks and a camping chair. Others did it from the trunk of their car. The most prepared ones bring gazebos, refrigerators and spreadsheets containing science-based nutrition and hydration strategies.
