How Laura Watts Fuelled Her Fastest Badwater 135 Yet

Running 135 miles through California’s Death Valley in extreme heat is a challenge few runners will ever contemplate. However, for British ultrarunner and Protein Rebel ambassador, Laura Watts, the legendary Badwater 135, which is Globally recognised as the world’s toughest foot race, has become familiar territory.

Laura is the only British woman to have completed Badwater five times, taking on this beast of a race every year from 2022 to 2026. This year she finished 5th woman, and incredibly more than four hours faster than in 2025, and 11 hours faster than her first Badwater in 2022.

One of the biggest changes was her nutrition strategy.

From “no plan” to a race-day strategy

When Laura first attempted Badwater in 2022, she admits her approach to nutrition was very different.

“I didn’t have a plan. Looking back I was a bit clueless.”

Her crew car was packed with different types of real food, but there was no structured strategy. Instead, Laura relied on salty foods and even carried a tub of rock salt.

The consequences became apparent during the race. Her hands swelled significantly and water began sloshing around in her stomach, something Laura believes was linked to an electrolyte imbalance.

She completed the race, but increasingly realised that her nutrition was limiting what her body could do.

“I wasn’t fuelling the engine. My nutrition limits were holding me back.”

Finding fuel her stomach could tolerate

Over subsequent Badwaters, Laura began experimenting with gels, electrolytes and liquid calories. But another problem emerged: nausea.

She found traditional lab-made gels, electrolytes and carb drinks increasingly difficult to tolerate, particularly when combined with Badwater’s extreme heat. Laura believes the maltodextrin present in a number of the products she tried, contributed to the problem.

By 2026, her approach had changed dramatically. Her crew had a detailed plan covering the timing of carbohydrates, caffeine, electrolytes and other supplements, and recorded everything in a comprehensive race log.

At the centre of her strategy were Protein Rebel Maple Ignite gels and Sustain electrolytes.

Laura took a Maple Ignite energy gel approximately every 30–40 minutes, but rather than consuming each gel in one go, she slowly sipped it over ten minutes.

That simple strategy helped her continue taking on carbohydrate consistently, even deep into the race.

Still running beyond mile 90

The difference became particularly noticeable late in Badwater.

In previous years, after reaching Darwin Checkpoint at around mile 90, Laura had typically slowed to a shuffle during the long section towards Lone Pine.

That wasn’t the case this time.

“This year, as I was still fuelling with my gels, I was able to run most of this section.”

Maintaining her fuelling deep into the race helped Laura keep moving strongly when previously she had slowed considerably. The result was her fastest Badwater yet - Over four hours quicker than 2025 and more than 11 hours quicker than 2022.

For caffeine, Laura interspersed her Maple Ignite gels with a Maple Coffee gel every four hours, giving her a planned caffeine boost rather than leaving caffeine intake to chance.

Hydration became just as structured

Laura’s electrolyte strategy was equally simple.

Before the race, her crew prepared multiple 500ml bottles containing Protein Rebel

Sustain Natural Electrolytes. Throughout Badwater, she alternated between a handheld bottle containing plain water and one containing Sustain.

It was a world away from the improvised rock salt strategy of her first attempt.

Her remaining nutrition was remarkably simple with her only real foods being blueberry muffins, mango lollies and salted crisps.

The importance of a plan

Five consecutive Badwaters have taught Laura the importance of planning, consistency and using products your body already knows it can tolerate.

Her biggest piece of advice for anyone contemplating Badwater (or indeed any demanding endurance event) is simple:

“Don’t go with untried and untested products because the extreme heat and elevation will expose any inefficiencies quite quickly.”

Laura's progression shows just how important nutrition becomes as performance ambitions increase. In 2022, her goal was simply to finish. By 2026, she was racing harder, chasing times and asking much more of her body.

Her fuelling had to evolve with her and now Maple Ignite, Maple Coffee and Sustain are central to Laura’s fuelling and hydration strategy, keeping her strong for all 135 miles.

So, will Laura be back in Death Valley in 2027, perhaps with her sights set even higher?

She hasn’t confirmed her plans yet. But with 2027 marking the 40th anniversary of Badwater 135, we suspect five finishes might not be enough.

Watch this space.