Untramarathoner attributes success to beetroot juice -- proven in research

[Elmore Furth]

Performance-enhancing substances now have a new competitor. This gives new meaning to 'juicing.'

When Chris Carver ran an ultra-marathon in Scotland last year, which challenges athletes to run as far as possible within 24 hours, he ran 140 miles (225 kilometers).

Determined to do better in this year's race, Carver added something extra to his training regime: beetroot juice. For a week before the race, he drank the dark purple juice every day. Last month, Carver won it by running 148 miles (238 kilometers).

"The only thing I did differently this year was the beetroot juice," said Carver, 46, a professional runner based near Leeds, in northern England.

In two studies conducted at Exeter University on 15 men, Stephen Bailey and colleagues found cyclists who drank a half-liter (about a half-quart) of beetroot juice several hours before setting off were able to ride up to 20 percent longer than those who drank a placebo blackcurrant juice.


Beet It: To Exercise Longer, Try Beetroot Juice