I came across Runners Kitchen in 2013 thanks to RunMelbourne. Tara the owner of Runners Kitchen had a tent at the RunMelbourne expo, and that’s when I was first introduced to her Amazeballs.
Yes I taste tested some of the amazeballs she had out as samples, and I was super impressed, I knew then that for my next endurance event I would be getting some of these bad boys. I didn’t purchase any for my half marathon event because I don’t like eating stuff I haven’t tried and tested in training.
Well, RunMelbourne ended up being my last endurance event for 2013 (I didn’t know this at the time). Yes, I had other events for the rest of the, but no other half marathons or other long-distance events.
So the thought of endurance food was put at the back of my mind.
Anyway here is the letter I sent to Tara and her amazing team on my review of her gluten-free Amazeballs.
Hi Tara & Team,
Hope you are well.
I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to try your gluten-free Amazeballs.
When the package first arrived in the mail I was super excited. Little did I know when that package arrived how much it will change the way I deal with nutrition during my endurance events. I always knew that endurance was important for distance events, but never understood why. Now however after doing a lot more reading and research having the right nutrition for your event is super important and will affect how you perform in your race.
In 2013 I did my first round of Whole30, where I ate Paleo for 30 consecutive days. I discovered a lot of things about my nutrition in that time frame. One of those things was a sensitivity to nightshades, gluten & dairy. The sensitivity to nightshades and dairy is a lot easier to deal with than the pains of gluten.
So when you announced that you were looking for people to test out a potential new range I was in.
When your box arrived, I was excited. Inside would be amazeballs that were gluten-free! On first impressions of the balls, I thought ‘wow they are smaller than I expected. For some reason, I was thinking rum-ball size. Yeah I have no idea why I thought that size, clearly now I see that you chose this petite size for it’s practicality. And let me tell you, they may be small in size, but as they say “good things come in small packages”.
I’ve tested these babies out while hiking for 3-4 hours, and also running over an hour. Not only are they super tasty, they are easy to eat and digest.
They fit perfectly in my mouth, and if I want a slower release, I just place it in my cheek like a chipmunk and gradually chew on the yumminess.
In the past when I’ve had ‘gels’ I’ve always been left with an ‘odd’ feeling in my stomach. You know that ‘blah / meh’ feeling, not with these amazeballs. Not only was I left with a happy taste in my mouth for the first time ever I could hear my tummy saying “yay you got it right, thank you”.
So thank you Runners Kitchen. Thank you for catering for those with gluten sensitivities.
I look forward to purchasing all my food for my endurance events from you.
Thanks again Runners Kitchen, you’ve made this endurance athlete very happy.
Regards,
What do you normally consume during your endurance events? How has it been working for you?
Have you ever tried ‘real’ nutrition?
When’s your next endurance event?
Thanks for this review Matilda – at Runners Kitchen we are always excited to hear how our food is working for people! Looking forward to hearing more in future events!
My pleasure Tara. I look forward to reporting how they go when Tough Mudder rolls around.
Glad you found something like this you can enjoy while your hiking/running! I’ve never even heard of these, but they look intriguing!!!
Amazeballs are Australian, however at least we have endurance food that you guys don’t have. You have a lot more variety. Besides Endura & Gu there isn’t much else left in the market, so Tara really filled in a void.