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Ultra Snacks: Eat, Toss, Carry

Eat, Toss, or Carry Game:

The Ultra-Runner Game Fueling Laughter on the Trail

If you’ve ever found yourself deep into an ultra where you are sleep-deprived, salt-crusted, and questioning your life choices then you know that aid stations can feel like comedy clubs disguised as buffets. Welcome to Food Fight Friday at the Aid Station, where the only thing more unhinged than the runners is the snack selection. Presented by our friends at 7 Summits Snacks, this weekly showdown celebrates the absurd joy of endurance sports… one questionable food decision at a time.

This week’s episode brings a multicultural explosion of flavor and laughter with guest Mariah Zavala, whose Oaxacan, Pascua Yaqui, and Puerto Rican heritage practically guarantees she knows more about food than any of us should be trusted with at mile 41. While snow-entombed Adam Lee is currently trapped beneath a 55-inch Canadian winter, Mariah steps into the virtual aid station to put Jason Bahamundi’s pronunciation skills (or lack thereof) to the ultimate test.

But first: the game.
For the uninitiated, Eat / Toss / Carry is the endurance athlete version of rock-paper-scissors (for the kids reading this!), if rock-paper-scissors involved gastrointestinal gambles and ancestral disappointment. Jason presents three handheld foods. You choose one to eat, one to toss, and one to carry for five very sweaty, very questionable miles.

This week’s contenders?

🌮 Oaxacan Tlayuda — Imagine a Mexican pizza with the caloric density of a small sun.
🍪 Coyota — A sweet, brown-sugar-stuffed pastry capable of joy… or digestive mayhem.
🍤 Alcapurria — The Puerto Rican fritter known to fuel dreams, courage, and possibly world peace.

Mariah brings the expertise. Jason brings the chaos. Together, they break down the strategy like only endurance athletes who have bonked in multiple zip codes can.

Mariah’s picks:

Eat: The tlayuda—because you need real fuel when your legs are negotiating a peace treaty.
Carry: The alcapurria—dense, delicious, and a perfect morale boost on the next climb.
Toss: The coyota—because mile-41 sugars can turn an ultra into a horror movie.

Jason, of course, disagrees entirely. His body is approximately 75% sugar, and he will defend the coyota like it’s a UTMB bib.

From there, the episode spirals beautifully straight into piraguas from the Bronx, Tucson raspados, coquito, mysterious childhood elote men, and the universal truth that if you hand an ultra-runner a handheld food, they will try to run 10 miles on it.

By the time Jason and Mariah pitch the United Nations Aid Station Ultra, a theoretical race featuring global snacks at every lap and salsa music blasting from the Puerto Rican tent, you’ll be equal parts inspired, hungry, and deeply concerned for the future of trail running.

At Run Tri Bike, we believe endurance sports should be filled with joy, connection, culture, and the kind of laughter that makes your hydration bladder slosh. Eat / Toss / Carry isn’t just a game. This becomes a reminder that running should be fun, ridiculous, and shared with a community that embraces the chaos.

If you’ve ever debated which questionable snack could carry you through the late miles of an ultra, this episode is your sign: lean into the weird, fuel the fun, and laugh your way to the finish line.

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