THE RESEARCH

Why it's in there.

Every ingredient in the RUNE system earns its place with a dose that matches the research, or an honest admission of where the research is thin. No proprietary blends, no fairy dust. Here's the evidence, study by study.

Updated August 2026

STATE 01

Energy Gel

Race-day fuel. 25g of dual-source carbohydrate per gel, built around the transporter science of long efforts.

Dual-carb blend (malto:fructose 1:0.8) 25g carbs

14g maltodextrin and 11g fructose. Your gut absorbs glucose and fructose through two different transporters, and using both routes at once lets you absorb and burn more carbohydrate per hour than glucose alone, with less of it sitting in your stomach. The 1:0.8 ratio reflects the research that pushed oxidation rates higher than the older 2:1 blends.

The evidence

The performance benefit is clearest in efforts over about two hours. For a 45-minute session, any carb source, or none, does the job.

Pink Himalayan salt 100mg

Salt alongside race fuel supports fluid absorption and rounds out the flavour so the gel stays drinkable deep into an effort. Sodium is the electrolyte that matters most in sweat.

The evidence

Straight talk: 100mg of salt is a contribution, not a hydration strategy. If you sweat hard or long, that's Hydrate's job. Use the calculator to see what you actually lose.

STATE 02

Baseline

The every-day stick. Foundational doses you take whether you trained or not.

Creatine monohydrate 5g

The most-studied supplement in sports nutrition, full stop. Daily creatine saturates muscle phosphocreatine stores, supporting repeated high-intensity output and training adaptations. 5g daily is the standard maintenance dose used across the research.

The evidence

Response varies, athletes with already-high muscle creatine (often heavy meat eaters) see smaller gains. Expect three to four weeks of daily use before stores saturate.

Collagen peptides (FORTIGEL®) 5g

Baseline uses FORTIGEL®, a branded bioactive collagen peptide with its own clinical research programme, at 5g, the same daily dose used in the studies. Trials in physically active people report reduced activity-related joint discomfort, and an MRI study points to effects on cartilage quality itself. Taken with vitamin C before loading exercise, collagen has also been shown to increase collagen synthesis markers, which is why Baseline pairs the two in one stick.

The evidence

Honest read: collagen's evidence base is younger than creatine's, and several key FORTIGEL trials were industry-supported, standard for branded ingredients, worth knowing when you weigh them. Promising, not yet settled science.

Vitamin C 200mg

Collagen synthesis requires vitamin C as a cofactor, the landmark collagen study above specifically used vitamin C-enriched supplementation. It's in Baseline to make the collagen dose count.

The evidence

Megadosing beyond this adds nothing for connective tissue, and very high chronic doses may blunt some training adaptations.

Vitamin D 1000 IU

Widespread insufficiency in athletes, especially at northern latitudes like Ireland's, especially in winter, affects muscle function, bone health and immunity. A daily 1000 IU supports year-round baseline status.

The evidence

The benefit is in correcting low status, not exceeding it. If your levels are already good, more vitamin D won't make you faster.

STATE 03

Hydrate

The during-effort stick. Five electrolytes at doses built around what sweat actually loses.

Sodium + Chloride 500mg · 500mg

Sodium is the electrolyte that matters most in sweat, and it drives both thirst and fluid retention, drinking water alone can leave you under-replaced on long, hot days. 500mg per stick is a meaningful replacement dose without turning your bottle into seawater.

The evidence

Sweat rates and sweat sodium vary several-fold between athletes. Use the hydration calculator to gauge your own needs rather than copying anyone else's.

Potassium · Magnesium · Calcium 300mg · 125mg · 120mg

The supporting cast. These minerals play established roles in muscle contraction, nerve function and fluid balance, and sweat does carry some of each, so Hydrate replaces them at honest, label-claim doses.

The evidence

Straight talk: sweat losses of these three are small compared to sodium, and the evidence that mid-exercise top-ups improve performance is limited. They're here for completeness, not as the headline act.

RUNE products support training. They don't replace food, sleep or the work. This page is education, not medical advice; links go to the primary literature so you can read exactly what we read.