Fiona Cook on Grit, Gold and Gut-Friendly Fuel at the ACP 100k

Making your England debut is special. Doing it over 100 kilometers on a relentless lap course, while battling pain from early on, and still helping bring home team gold? That is something else entirely.

This weekend, Highland Fuel Nutrition athlete Fiona Cook lined up in Limerick to represent England at the ACP 100k. What followed was a seriously tough day out: 51.5 laps of a twisting 1.9km gravel loop, no headphones, no hiding, and nowhere to go when things got hard.

Fiona started strongly, settling in well and sharing laps with strong company, including Katie and Nix, who both went on to finish first and second and secure GB qualification. But at around the 25km mark, things began to unravel when her back started tightening, changing her stride and making every step progressively more painful.

By 50km, many would have stepped off. On a looped course where you pass the finish line every 10 minutes, the option to stop is always there.

Obviously, she didn't.

Because this was bigger than just an individual result. This was an England vest. A team competition. A chance to dig in and prove something deeper.

And that is exactly what she did.

Despite the pain, Fiona kept moving, kept competing, and kept delivering for her team. The result was a gold medal for the England women’s team, a double win as the men also took team gold, and an outstanding 5th place female finish individually.

A seriously gutsy performance.

Fuel that held up when things got tough

When the body starts fighting back that early in a race, fuelling can quickly become another battle. But Fiona’s nutrition stayed solid throughout.

She got through 12 sachets of Highland Fuel with no issues at all, alongside gels and flat Coke, and hit an incredible 105g of carbohydrate per hour, plus around 500ml of flat Coke on top, a personal best in terms of intake.

Because when your stride changes, pain builds, and the race becomes a mental fight, the last thing you need is your stomach turning against you too. Fiona kept fuelling, kept absorbing, and kept giving herself the best chance to stay in the race for as long as her body would allow.

That is exactly what Highland Fuel is built for: simple, effective energy that keeps working deep into the hard miles.

A proper team effort

Ultra racing may look individual from the outside, but performances like this are never done alone.

Fiona gave special thanks to Julia Davis, who crewed her brilliantly throughout the day, adapting lap by lap and somehow always appearing with exactly what was needed. As Fiona put it, “Fuelling plan? What fuelling plan?”, but when the crew knows the athlete, sometimes that is enough.

She also highlighted Sophie for keeping things calm and relaxed before the race, Sarah for the support out on course, Archie for helping with travel logistics, and team manager Rob Britton for the advice, humour and support across the weekend.

We’re proud to have Fiona representing Highland Fuel Nutrition and even prouder to see our fuel play a part in getting her through a day like that.