Five enthusiastic runners from Artizian Catering have just completed the London Marathon, conditioned by an intense training programme and fuelled by a special marathon eating plan devised by their own in-house expert.
What they didn’t know at the start of this journey was how much their marathon menu would benefit others, and what an overwhelming response it would receive from their clients and customers.
Artizian commercial director Tracey Fairclough said the runners, collectively known as Team Scrambled Legs, understood the task in terms of exercise but also wanted to make sure they were fuelling their bodies correctly, not just pre-run but all of the time.
They turned to Artizian’s nutrition and well-being manager, Catherine Attfield, to help them get the most from their food. One of the runners explained: “I found that there was so much conflicting advice surrounding diet and nutrition for marathon runners.
“Once you sign up for the marathon, everyone you talk to has something to say about what to eat and when to eat it.
“It’s a real challenge trying to sift through all the information out there and work out what’s right for you.
“I knew the one and only person we could trust to point us in the right direction was our colleague, Catherine Attfield.”
Attfield quickly drew up a daily plan for her colleagues, one designed to enhance performance and aid recovery.
She said: “I decided to bring together a marathon nutrition plan because I know just how critical it is to performance. I started by creating simple nutritional advice as a daily check list so that anyone, whether novice or veteran, could easily follow the ‘Bite Size Steps’.
“Through building up the information in this way, people have told me it is easier to follow, makes total sense and, most importantly of all, they can easily stick to it because it is not overwhelming.
“What I have tried to reinforce is that recovery nutrition is as important as performance nutrition and why providing this information was so critical to anyone attempting this incredible feat.”
Her marathon eating plan features advice on how to avoid ‘hitting the wall’, as well as ideas for ‘fit fridge fuel’ and plenty of training tips.
“After seeing the marathon menu and feeling instantly inspired and more confident, Fairclough recognised its value for Artizian’s clients, customers and the wider public too.
The decision was made to release the marathon menu and, on the 1 April, a blog was created at www.artizianmarathonmenu.tumblr.com to offer daily nutritional guidance.
Daily blog posts featuring advice from the Marathon Menu were then shared right up to the day of the marathon on 26 April, giving anyone in training instant access to Artizian’s practical nutritional resource.
There were also regular tweets, and posts via the company Facebook and LinkedIn channels offering marathon eating advice.
Fairclough said: “The response to the daily blogs so far has been truly amazing, with plenty of positive feedback from Artizian’s managers, clients and customers, many of whom have actually printed the menu out to keep close to hand each day.
“When you consider that over 40,000 people run the marathon and over four million people watch it on TV, I figured that Artizian was probably feeding a decent percentage of these people who were either going to run it themselves, support a colleague, relative or friend running it, or even run or cycle and engage in other high-level spring and summer performance activities.
“So what started as internal guidance turned out to be hugely beneficial for many of our clients and customers, as well as the wider public, who are now visiting our blog each day and engaging with our advice via social media.
“It’s a fantastic feeling, and I’m glad we were able to create and release such a valuable resource.”
Attfield added: “Because of a long-term injury, I couldn’t run the marathon myself, but really wanted to play my part and get behind my colleagues.
“Their feedback has been amazing, and I am really happy to have supported them throughout their training and on the day itself. Making the menu widely available has been an exciting journey.
“I feel optimistic that it will work, and that I can educate, inform and inspire people – it is why I love my job. Making a difference and knowing that I was part of that is a real motivator to me.
“Helping people to achieve their optimum nutrition is part of the journey in their personal achievement – and mine too.”