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TORQ Winter Shandy Gel

TORQ/Adnams Winter Shandy Gel

About the Gel

The gel was launched in collaboration with Adnams Brewery to celebrate halloween and is a mix of TORQ’s 2:1 Matlodextrin:Fructose matrix and Adnams Ghost Ship which results in an energy gel with less than 1.2% ABV. So even though it contains a little alcohol, it’s essentially the same as many of the other gels in the TORQ range.

‘Beer-Fuelling’ a Race

I’d noticed a press release in the summer and with a late September launch, I just had to get my hands on some for the Cardiff Half Marathon Review on October 2nd. How could the Beer Runner not take ‘beer’ with him on a race?

On race day I had a combination of a couple of Clif Shot Bloks and a couple of TORQ gels. When it comes to races and longer runs I usually end up using less than I take but I still like to go prepared as I’m not carrying that much extra weight.

I do get on well with the Shot Bloks as they are so easy to carry and I can quickly grab a cube and chew it whilst not breaking my stride. Gels can be a bit more fiddly but one feature I love about the TORQ gels is little notch at the opening which means you can quickly tear open the gel and not worry about whether you have opened it far enough and can barely get the gel out or have opened it too far and have an extra bit of rubbish for your pocket.

For the first 8 or 9 miles I consumed the two Shot Bloks I had with me along with water and a little Lucozade at mile 9. As I was aiming for a PB I had to maintain a fast (for me) pace which meant the by mile 11 I was really feeling it. With a water station in view I ‘downed’ most of a gel (which does taste just like a shandy drink!) and washed it down with some water. The gel has a good consistency with it being quite gooey but not too sticky and syrupy like the Gu Energy Gels that I’ve tried.

With around 14 minutes left in the race (if I maintained my pace!) I was hoping the gel would help for the final sprint. The last mile was tough and the two short hills did their best to knock me back but turning into the final stretch I managed to find some energy for a fast sprint to both the finish line and a new PB of 1:36:51. I’m not sure how much of a boost the gel may have given me as I’m sure there was a large dose of adrenaline in the mix, but I’m sticking with it being a ‘beer-fuelled’ sprint.

Will I Get Drunk?

Theoretically you could get drunk but you’d need to ‘down’ over 34 gels to consume as much alcohol in a half a pint of Ghost Ship. Based on you taking 2-3 gels an hour, there’s no chance of you stumbling around the race course.

Availability

The gels are available from the TORQ website and come in boxes of 15 for £27.75 which is the equivalent of £1.85 a gel. The product is limited so according to their website they have only produces a single batch.

About Author

I once didn't run, then I started to run and got addicted. Then Crohn's Disease put a stop to my running adventures. Now I'm back with a new bum (colostomy) and starting to embark on new running adventures.

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