I was lucky enough to be contacted by the lovely people at RunUltra to review HALO Sport. I was sent “HALO on the Go” individual serving sachets of electrolyte powder, “sticks packed with our signature hydration trinity of natural electrolytes, minerals, and vitamins”.
Luckily for fans of Lemonade they come in 2 flavours, Lemonade and Pink Lemonade.
Before I go any further, a huge kudos to HALO Sport for being part of the 1% for the planet movement, and all their products are recyclable (this may depend on local recycling rules) and are BPA free.
Ethically they seem bang on the money and they have also got some big names bigging up the brand, including Andy Murrey.
Robin Shobin, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, adds: “Having developed a formula that works for elite athletes (and therefore, for everyone else), getting the seal of approval from a sportsperson of Andy’s caliber is truly humbling”.
Also supporting HALO Sport are a myriad of American fitness guru’s, a nutritionist, some bloke called Pitbull, his dance team, and the warbling Houstonite even sang a song about it.
Nobody likes to be dehydrated as it can lead to headaches, fatigue, crankiness, brain fog, muscle cramps, dry skin… the list goes on. Athough it’s relatively simple to address, 75% of us are dehydrated all the time. This is where HALO comes in.
There is a decent blog on their website about dehydration – I really liked the blogs on their website.
Formulated by the brightest minds in science, medicine, sports and nutrition, HALO’s proprietary blend of electrolytes, vitamins and essential trace minerals helps defeat dehydration by rapidly replenishing what you have lost through a gruelling workout, a long flight or just the daily grind.
HALO’s tag line is “To feel good, always. To feel great, more often.” Baby they’ve got your HALO.
The concept of HALO on the Go is you can pop these hydration sticks in your bag or pocket to hydrate your busy lifestyle, (other lifestyles are available). There are twelve (12) sticks in a box.
Each hydration stick has:
- Only 1g sugar per stick – 90% less than the market leader.
- 10x more vitamin C than the market leader to boost immunity.
- Proprietary blend of natural electrolytes & ionic trace minerals from the Great Salt Lake of Utah.
- Refreshingly complete hydration, with only 15 calories.
What do I think?
Firstly, this is not solely an endurance event product, more of a lifestyle product that fits snuggly into endurance events and if you are a runner who isn’t focusing on hydration then you’re missing a trick.
Usage
Situations I used HALO Sport
- General hydration,
- Pre run hydration,
- During long run Hydration,
- Post run Hydration.
General hydration; it makes drinking water more palatable so it must help right?
Pre-Run; I am a bit reticent to drink too much before a run, I have OCD about stopping for a wee (to stop the Garmin or not to stop the Garmin that is the question) and to be honest I do not like running with too much liquid sloshing around. I sipped a serving of HALO over the 30 minutes before a run and had no ill effects. I have no idea if it improved my run, but it certainly did not hinder it.
During; I took one sachet in 500mil of water for an attempt on the West Mendip way FKT, 30 miles with approx. 5000ft of vert. Not once did I feel thirsty, neither did I encounter stomach issues and to be honest I felt fantastic and ran far better than I had hoped. For those of you on the edge of your seat wondering how it went, 3hrs 39mins (sorry John Kelly). [Editor’s note: yes Stu beat John Kelly’s FKT on the Mendip Way!!]
Post run; After most hard runs I struggle to drink enough as I find I get a pretty bad stomach ache and often bloating. I didn’t get that with HALO; in fact it seemed to encourage me to drink more.
No matter which circumstance from the above list I used them for, it tastes great. Neither are carbonated, so no popping of the soft flasks to worry about.
Pink Lemonade: 9/10 loved this flavour, delicious, light and refreshing my kids also loved it.
Lemonade: 8/10, this flavour did not quite hit the highs of the pink version, more lemon squash than lemonade.
Value
£16.99 for 12 sticks, personally this is a bit rich for me to use daily (although they are slightly cheaper than the equivalent Nuun product).
The Competition.
I would have thought the biggest comparison to HALO Sport would be Nuun, specifically Nuun Instant which retails at $15.99 for a pack of 8 sachets and comes in at 25 calories per serving, rather than the 15 of HALO. Both claim to have similar benefits, the obvious difference is that HALO is organic and has a bigger focus on trace minerals.
Conclusion
As a day-to-day product to drink then I can’t fault it, the 2 flavours taste great and dissolve quickly and, in my experience, create zero stomach issues.
Although I wouldn’t use them daily, I would certainly have a box to hand so I can use them after a heavy drinking session, a quick pick me up, and I would certainly continue to use as a post hard run rehydration plan.
I do think if HALO Sport want to be more involved in endurance events they may need to develop a couple of different products, especially if they expect people to use it during exercise. Us ultra runners want and need calories; I also think a energy boost/caffeine version would be a good idea.
In summary, they taste great, they encourage you to drink more and clearly have some very good ingredients, give it a go and you might find they’ve got your HALO.
Sorry I couldn’t resist one last Beyonce reference.
About the author: Stuart Leaney is the current course record holder at Centurion Wendover Woods 50 and 100 mile races and a regular winner at Centurion Running events.
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