Get ready for Powerbar PERFORM
A new partnership between WTC and Nestlé Performance Nutrition means that the new Powerbar PERFORM drink will be at many Ironman and 70.3 aid stations instead of Gatorade, and that is true for Kona and Clearwater too.
Until recently Powerbar did not have a bottled beverage in the lineup and that is a must for Ironman events, as mixing on site is too difficult and often not accurate. But now Powerbar has PERFORM in its portfolio of products and the game has changed.
“It has been an 18 month development process, and the 3 key design elements to PERFORM are nutritional profiles, stomach comfort and naturality,” said Phil Annett, Global Business Head at Nestlé Performance Nutrition.
President and CEO of Ironman, Ben Fertic commented, “Ironman is the pinnacle of endurance sports and we believe in having the latest tools available for our athletes. As Ironman celebrates its 32nd anniversary, we are excited to offer the world’s top athletes a new product that is designed to enhance their training and race day experience.”
Some athletes have already been testing the new PERFORM product, including Ironman champion Sam McGlone.
“I am pretty excited about the new drink and have been testing it out in training and it is really light flavored and it is easy on the stomach,” said McGlone. “It is always easy to get one drink down, but when you are racing Ironman you are looking at getting 5 or 6 down over the course of the bike and another few on the run. So when you are looking at 8 bottles, you need something that is easy to digest and something that tastes good.”
The new Ironman PERFORM bevarage will be the official sports drink for Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island, Ironman 70.3 Racine, Rohto Ironman 70.3 Miami, Ford Ironman Lake Placid, Ford Ironman Louisville, Ford Ironman Wisconsin, Ford Ironman Florida and Ford Ironman Arizona in 2010. Plus both the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship and Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 events will include Ironman PERFORM on-course.
For athletes who are concerned about possibly drug testing issues with the new beverage, Ben Fertic assured that this topic has been dealt with correctly.
“Ironman signed a WADA code back in 2005 and we have been very active in the world anti doping movement. But part of that movement has to come from the suppliers of products and Powerbar has committed that vast batches of Ironman Perform will be tested, and in the US we’ll use NSF. But basically we are testing for any cross contamination of the batches of products, something you have seen in articles about over the last few years and as early as yesterday in the NY Times. It is yet another important piece about building a great product.”
The new PERFORM sports beverage will be available in June 2010 in three flavors — Lemon Lime, Orange Mango and Mixed Berry — via powerbar.com, shopironman.com and sports specialty retailers for a suggested retail price of $1.49 per 20 ounce bottle.
Athletes may notice that the tradition of the dry gear drop-off tents they have come to appreciate and most likely took for granted, will not really happen moving forward. But that would have been the case even if Gatorade still was the official drink, said Tom Ziebart who handled Gatorade at many Ironman events including in Kona. "This has to do with legal issues and not with Powerbar, so please don't blame Powerbar when you can't find a clothing drop-off tent at your next WTC race," said Ziebart. "You can clearly still swim at those races but the only events with official Ironman swims will be Arizona and Louisville where swimming is prohibited otherwise."
