Man V Miles
In the early days of searching for ‘natural’ energy gels, I came across an article on the @manvmiles blog by sports journalist Kieran Alger. In his article, Kieran mentioned that "Fuelling with real food such as bananas, dates or honey can be just as effective but, for me, it depends a lot on the race distance and how you’re approaching it. Getting a date out of a food bag while doing 6 minute miles chasing a sub-3-hour marathon is going to have it’s problems". I remembered trying to unwrap a cling-filmed date mid-run, which is no easy feat once it's been smooshed up and warmed in your pocket. I thought "There has to be a better way to do this!" and hearing it from a seasoned runner made me realise that I wasn't the only one thinking this.
Reading Kieran's blogs gave me so much motivation and inspired me to push forward with VALA. He has an impressive list of races under his belt, including nearly 50 marathons and MDS, so it’s safe to say that he's tried and tested everything running related. He's since teamed up with his friends to launch @theruntesters, where they review the latest kit.
I messaged Kieran to ask if he might be interested in testing our early gels and he generously agreed. His feedback was honest whilst constructive and he's come along for the VALA ride ever since. In his testimonial he referenced being able to carry dates in a fuss-free format, which was a funny full-circle moment for me. Kieran remarked: "I'm a big believer in finding natural ways to fuel my training and my racing. Good nutrition shouldn't stop when you hit the start line. As part of my job as a running journalist, I've also tested a huge range of gels and VALA stands out as something different. The great balance of natural flavours and a real-food texture creates a source of fuel that you actually want to eat, rather than something you just put up with as a means to an end. On ultra runs I've often carried dates as a natural fuel source and these take that but put into an easier-to-carry format."
If you haven't done so already, make sure you check out @manvmiles and manvmiles.co.uk and give @theruntesters a follow for the latest and greatest in product reviews.
Reading Kieran's blogs gave me so much motivation and inspired me to push forward with VALA. He has an impressive list of races under his belt, including nearly 50 marathons and MDS, so it’s safe to say that he's tried and tested everything running related. He's since teamed up with his friends to launch @theruntesters, where they review the latest kit.
I messaged Kieran to ask if he might be interested in testing our early gels and he generously agreed. His feedback was honest whilst constructive and he's come along for the VALA ride ever since. In his testimonial he referenced being able to carry dates in a fuss-free format, which was a funny full-circle moment for me. Kieran remarked: "I'm a big believer in finding natural ways to fuel my training and my racing. Good nutrition shouldn't stop when you hit the start line. As part of my job as a running journalist, I've also tested a huge range of gels and VALA stands out as something different. The great balance of natural flavours and a real-food texture creates a source of fuel that you actually want to eat, rather than something you just put up with as a means to an end. On ultra runs I've often carried dates as a natural fuel source and these take that but put into an easier-to-carry format."
If you haven't done so already, make sure you check out @manvmiles and manvmiles.co.uk and give @theruntesters a follow for the latest and greatest in product reviews.