Serious Cramper, Adventure Racer, shares his NASA-developed solution
Barry Nobles considers himself a nerd at work and at play. He works on legislation and strategic planning at the Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C. In his spare time, he’s into Adventure Racing. [Editors Note: Adventure Racing is one of the faster growing endurance sports in the US with over 50,000 competitors annually leading up to National Championships]
What is Adventure Racing?
“It’s kind of this nerdy cross section of the sports world,” Nobles explains. “It’s kind of like a triathlon, except you’re on a team and you have a map and a compass. You have to figure your way from checkpoint to checkpoint to checkpoint to checkpoint – on foot, mountain back, paddling, climbing. You’ve got to figure out how to get from place to place.” [Editors Note: Learn more at USARA – US Adventure Racing Assn.]
Nobles loves the sport but was hampered by cramping, a family condition shared by his sister, father, and grandfather. “I come from a proud line of crampers, he jokes, but his teammates were exasperated by the interruptions every few hours. “Nobody wants a teammate who’s standing there locked up and can’t move. I’d be a liability to my teammates” One teammate recommended The Right Stuff (NASA-developed zero carb, electrolyte drink additive), and Nobles tried it first at a mountain bike race, the Shenandoah Mountain 100.
I started taking The Right Stuff. I made it through the whole race and didn’t cramp once. Now I’m in love with the stuff.
“That was the first time I actually used it for an event,” he says. “I’ve attempted that race three times. The first two times, before I was even halfway there, I completely locked up, around Mile 45. Last year, I started taking The Right Stuff. I made it through the whole race and didn’t cramp once. Now I’m in love with the stuff. I have teammates in love with the stuff, too.”
Nobles uses The Right Stuff at least weekly. “That is my drug of choice,” he says. “If I’m going over an hour, that’s when I use it. I train pretty hard. I’ve been doing a lot of racing lately.” He participated in the Krispy Kreme Challenge, a charity race from the N.C. State University campus to a downtown Raleigh doughnut shop several miles away where runners consume a dozen doughnuts before racing back, all in less than an hour.
Nobles recalls a 24-hour adventure race where a friend cramped and lay on the ground in the woods while others tried to massage his legs. “That’s not a good way to win a race,” he says. “He definitely would benefit from The Right Stuff.”