Nutritional intake during a simulated adventure race.

The objective of the study was to describe the food intake of adventure racers during a competition simulated in the laboratory. Ten male athletes with international experience in adventure races took part in the study. The experiment lasted 67 hr (total distance covered 477.3 km), but 3 athletes did not finish the race. Food intake was recorded throughout the simulation. Athletes' total energy expenditure was greater than their total energy intake (24,516 vs. 14,738 kcal), and the athletes obtained significantly more energy from food than from supplements. Carbohydrate intake was below the recommendation of 0.5-1.0 g x kg(-1) x hr(-1). These results indicate that guidelines for multiday adventure races are needed.