Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell©
In a world-record time of 6:27:43, Max King, a key sponsored athlete of GU Energy Labs, won the 2014 100 Kilometer World Championship.

Racing against a deep international field, the 34-year-old from Bend, Oregon averaged an astonishing 6:14 minute per mile pace to not only break the existing world record of 6:30:11, but also help lead the United States Men’s team to an overall team title.

The course laid out in Doha, Qatar was a flat asphalt and pavement loop of 5K, making the pace faster than normal and necessitating a detailed nutritional plan from King, who said, “Over the course of the last couple of years I’ve been able to learn a ton about my nutritional needs.  I’ve been lucky that through trial and error — mostly error – I’ve been able to get my nutrition plan down well enough that I don’t have to improvise as much. Being able to follow a plan, rather than just improvising, really helps with the mental side of racing as well; it just gives you that much more confidence.”

King’s world title at Doha is the second of his career, coming after his victory in the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships.  In his illustrious career, he has also placed fourth in the 2014 Western States Endurance Run, won the XTerra Trail Race World Championships three times and finished 19th in the marathon and 6th place in the steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012.

The U.S. team topped Japan, Great Britain, Sweden and Italy to win the overall gold behind King’s win and strong performances from Zach Miller, Michael Wardian and Nicholas Accardo.
King plans to take a month off to recover from the world championships before gearing up for a spring marathon in preparation for qualifying for the U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials, but his “A” race for 2015 will be the Comrades Marathon in South Africa in May.

Lauren O’Connor, the Director of Marketing for GU Energy Labs said, “Max is one of our most passionate athletes, with a keen interest in nutrition science, and he’s  been an enormous help to us in developing products.  Anyone who’s ever enjoyed a Root Beer gel from GU can thank Max – because that particular flavor was his recommendation.  We’re proud to fuel him in all his endeavors.”

About GU Energy Labs:

GU Energy Gel, the original energy gel, was developed in 1993 in Berkeley, CA. To this day, GU remains the market share leader by a margin of more than 2 to 1, and is still the premium gel available to endurance athletes. GU, Roctane, Chomps and Brew are designed to provide athletes with scientifically-based, performance-tested nutrition.

For more information about GU, log onto www.GUenergy.com.


Source GU Energy Labs by Gordon Wright through press release©