If the right sports drink is key to great marathon performances, a little-known Swedish product named Maurten is on a roll. The endurance beverage, recently launched in the U.S., has been used by Eliud Kipchoge in his last three (all victorious) marathons, including his epic 2:00:25 in the Nike Breaking2 event a year ago.

Kipchoge isn’t alone. Kenenisa Bekele drank Maurten while running the Kipchoge isnt alone in history, 2:03:03, at Berlin in 2016. Maurten was also used by Desiree Linden in her recent Boston Marathon victory, and by Galen Rupp when he ran 2:06:07 to win the Prague Marathon and become the second-fastest American ever earlier this month. Rupp likewise drank Maurten en route to his Chicago Marathon victory in 2:09:20 last October. There, he covered the last five miles at 1:59 marathon pace.

Right after finishing in Prague, Rupp vomited a substantial amount. However, his coach, Alberto Salazar, says Rupp didn’t suffer a significant digestive issue. “Galen had no stomach problems in Prague until he chugged his last 10-ounce drink at the 40K mark, and then felt it sloshing around in the last 800 meters,” reports Salazar, who says Rupp will continue to use the drink.

Maurten is being used by the NN Marathon Team, which, in addition to Kipchoge, includes Kenyans who have won recent editions of the Boston, New York City, Chicago, and world championships marathons. “We hear from the athletes that Maurten gives them fewer stomach upsets than sports drinks they used before,” says Valentijn Trouw, manager of the NN Marathon Team. “They say it has a more neutral taste and is easier on the stomach in high-speed racing.” Besides Rupp and Davila, other top Americans using Maurten include the Northern Arizona Elite stable of marathoners based in Flagstaff, Arizona.

According to Maurten board member Russell Nadel, a former senior product director at Under Armour, none of the elite marathoners using Maurten have endorsement contracts. “We are a young company that has decided to dedicate our budget to science,” Nadel says. “We like to work with athletes who value the product itself. We give them free Maurten in exchange for photo promotion rights.”

More Carbs = Better Performance?

Maurten, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, appears to have two main points of distinction as an endurance fuel: It contains more carbohydrates than most sport beverages, and forms a hydrogel when it reaches the stomach. It also has no artificial flavors or preservatives. The company claims that Maurten contains only five ingredients—maltodextrin, fructose, pectin, sodium alginate, and sodium chloride.

The basic product comes as a dry mix in two strengths: Drink Mix 160, with 40 grams of carbs per half liter (16.9 ounces); or Drink Mix 320, which contains 80 grams of carbs per half liter. Because a gram of carbohydrates provides 4 calories, the 160 and 320 refer to the calories in each mix. Maurten is available at a growing number of specialty running retailers across the country and online.

instagramView full post on Instagram

For many years, nutritionists and exercise physiologists recommended that marathon runners consume no more than 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Taking in more was believed to increase the risk of bloating, nausea, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal problems that afflict 30 to 50 percent of runners.

Beginning around 2004, Dutch hydration expert Asker Jeukendrup and other researchers showed that higher intakes were possible—up to 80 or perhaps even 90 grams per hour. Jeukendrup, an Ironman triathlete, has been investigating endurance nutrition for more than 20 years and is a past global director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. “A higher carbohydrate intake will likely result in better performance than lower intake [in events longer than two hours],” he writes on his website.

Maurten contains two natural ingredients—alginate (from brown algae) and pectin (from berries, apples, and other fruit)—that turn the drink into a hydrogel when it reaches the stomach’s acidic environment. Research has shown that a pectin-containing drink could speed stomach emptying, which should decrease GI problems while enhancing energy delivery. This process distinguishes Maurten from earlier sport-drink attempts at delivering very high amounts of carbs to runners.

The principals at Maurten, including founder Mårten Fryknäs, whose first name led to the product name, and CEO Olof Sköld, say they are working with independent researchers to conduct and publish studies. “We have eight clinical trials going on, with the first papers to be submitted after the summer,” Sköld said.

Because none of those have yet appeared in published journals, the science community at large has little on which to base its opinions. “So far we have not seen any data, just promises,” notes Jeukendrup. He adds: “I do believe that gastric emptying can be enhanced with a more gel-like formulation.”

Former Western States 100-miler winner Stephanie Howe Violett agrees. “I can’t find any evidence-based research,” says Violett, who has a Ph.D. in exercise science and nutrition. “It’s never a bad idea to have more options for fueling in the endurance world. I doubt Maurten will cause the 2-hour-marathon barrier to be broken, but it might make a difference for some athletes.”

Kipchoge isnt alone The Science of Sport, has noted that Maurten’s elite runners were all super-fast before they began using the drink. Indeed, Kipchoge won six marathons in a row, including the Rio Olympic Marathon, before drinking Maurten in races.

What About Everyday Runners?

Any carb-rich sports drink may have less value for 4-hour marathon runners than for those running almost twice as fast. To begin with, slower runners likely burn fewer calories per hour. Also, they have more time to grab and consume drinks and other foods.

This hasn’t stopped some midpack marathoners from discovering and enjoying Maurten. Twenty-five-year-old Brooklyn resident Minh Huyen Nguyen ran her first marathon in 4:10 (New York City, 2016) and her second in 3:27 (Berlin, 2017). She gives Maurten much credit for her improvement. She used it in Berlin, but not in New York City.

When Nguyen began running several years ago with the Black Roses NYC club, she found her stomach too sensitive for the various drinks, gels, and bars her training partners used. “As a result, I would go into races without any fuel at all,” she notes. “Now, with Maurten, I get the fuel I need with no cramps, stomach aches, or any other pains.”

She acknowledges there’s another possible explanation for her big marathon progress. “My friends remind me about all the training I put in throughout the year,” she says.