What Athletes Told Us About Fuelling: More Choice, More Options, More Ways to Fuel
After our recent events, we’ve been having conversations with athletes about something that sounds simple, but can be surprisingly difficult:
How do you get enough fuel in when you’re training hard?
The answers came from different athletes, different sports and different stages of training.
But one thing kept coming up:
Athletes want more choice.
They’re not necessarily looking for a more complicated fuelling strategy. They’re looking for practical alternatives to the same gels, sweets, bananas and flapjacks they’ve been relying on.
Something that feels more like food.
Something they actually enjoy eating.
Something easy to carry.
And something that fits their individual training needs.
That’s exactly the thinking behind RED-Scue.
What athletes told us
“I’m bored of gels.”
Gels have their place, but athletes don’t necessarily want to rely on them for every session or race.
For some, having another option makes fuelling feel more manageable and enjoyable.
“I want something that actually feels like food.”
We heard from athletes who wanted something more substantial and satisfying than another gel or handful of sweets.
They wanted a snack they could actually look forward to eating.
“My stomach doesn’t always agree with my fuel.”
Pre- and post-race stomach concerns can make athletes cautious about what they choose to eat.
Having a variety of familiar options can help athletes find what works for them rather than feeling restricted to one type of fuel.
“I don’t want to eat the same thing every time.”
Bananas, gels, Haribos and flapjacks can all become repetitive — particularly during heavy training blocks.
Variety matters.
“I need something practical.”
When you’re moving between training sessions, travelling to an event or racing, fuel needs to be easy to carry, easy to access and easy to eat.
“I know I need more carbs, but I struggle to get them in.”
Sometimes the challenge isn’t knowing that you need to fuel.
It’s finding enough options that you actually want to eat.
And this is where the individual athlete stories really bring the point home.
Case Study 1: A young 800m & 1500m athlete
At our recent Jubilee Pool Aquathlon, a young athlete approached me with his mum.
His main events are the 800m and 1500m, and he was looking for alternative ways to fuel around his training and racing to help him get enough energy in for his needs.
He’d been relying on bananas and flapjacks, but was getting bored.
He wanted something different — something that felt more tailored to an athlete.
He was looking for something easy to eat, practical to carry and, importantly, something he actually enjoyed.
That’s where RED-Scue offered another option.
For him, cassava and plantain offered a practical, enjoyable alternative to the usual banana or flapjack — with ingredients chosen to better suit the demands of young athletes and multisport training.
It wasn’t about replacing the foods that already worked for him.
It was about giving him another choice.
Because when you’re training regularly, having more than one option can make getting enough fuel in much easier.
Case Study 2: Triathletes looking beyond gels and Haribos
We also spoke to triathletes who were looking for something different from the usual gels and Haribos.
They wanted something that felt more like food.
Something satisfying and filling, while still being practical enough to take with them.
For some athletes, stomach comfort was also a concern around racing.
Pre- and post-race stomach issues can make fuelling feel difficult, so having different options to experiment with during training can be valuable.
Again, the message wasn’t that gels or sweets are wrong.
It was:
What else could work for you?
RED-Scue gives athletes another option — a wholefood, carb-focused snack made with ingredients such as cassava and plantain, offering a different texture and eating experience from traditional gels and sweets.
Case Study 3: The active everyday athlete
Not every athlete we spoke to was training for an 800m, 1500m or triathlon.
We also spoke to active people fitting yoga, Pilates and gym classes around busy lives.
Some were doing back-to-back sessions and wanted an easy way to get more fuel in between or after training.
They weren’t necessarily racing.
But they were still asking a lot of their bodies.
And they still needed energy to support their activity.
For this type of athlete, fuelling needs to be realistic.
There might not be time to sit down for a full meal between sessions.
Sometimes what you need is simply an easy snack that you can keep in your gym or training bag and reach for when you need it.
That’s another place where RED-Scue can fit.
Why cassava and plantain?
The ingredients behind RED-Scue are an important part of the story.
Cassava and plantain aren’t simply there to make RED-Scue different for the sake of being different.
They’re ingredients that are rooted in my own sporting journey and experience with food.
I wanted to create something that felt different from the conventional sports-fuelling products athletes are often presented with.
Not another brightly packaged gel.
Not another handful of sweets.
Not another banana.
But a wholefood, carb-focused option that could fit into an athlete’s wider fuelling routine.
The aim is simple:
Give athletes more ways to fuel.
The bigger insight
Across all these conversations, the biggest takeaway wasn’t that athletes need one perfect fuelling product.
It was the opposite.
Fuelling is personal.
An 800m runner has different demands from a triathlete.
A young athlete has different needs from someone doing Pilates and gym classes.
Someone racing for three hours has a different fuelling strategy from someone completing a 60-minute training session.
There isn’t one food that needs to work for everyone.
What athletes seem to want is choice.
Choice between gels and wholefood options.
Choice between sweet and savoury.
Choice between something light and something more satisfying.
Choice based on what their training demands — and what they actually enjoy eating.
That’s where RED-Scue fits.
Not as a replacement for proper meals.
Not as a claim that there is one perfect way to fuel.
But as another option in an athlete’s fuelling toolkit.
More options. More variety. More ways to fuel.
The conversations we had at our recent events reinforced something I’ve believed since creating RED-Scue:
Fuelling shouldn’t feel like another challenge you have to overcome.
You should have options that fit your training.
Options that are practical.
Options that you enjoy.
And options that help you get the energy and carbohydrates you need to support what you’re asking your body to do.
Whether you’re an 800m runner, a triathlete, a gym-goer, a Pilates regular or simply someone who loves being active — you deserve fuelling options that work for you.
That’s why RED-Scue exists.
Cassava. Plantain. Wholefood ingredients. Athlete-focused fuelling.
More options. More variety. More ways to fuel.
RED-Scue — Fuel without fear. ⚡️
