What's a runner to eat, drink?

HOLSTEIN, Iowa | Beef jerkey. Chocolate milk. Water. Granola bars. Chocolate milk. Eggs. Gatorade. Chocolate milk.

That's a short list of food and drink items found on the grounds of the Holstein Golf & Country Club, site of the Tim Thomas Invitational on a gorgeous Saturday morning in September.

More than 800 middle school and high school cross country runners took part in the event, one that challenged high school participants to a 5,000-meter run. The middle schoolers have a shorter course, one measuring 2.5 miles.

Our question: What are these runners to eat and drink before and after one of the most grueling prep competitions?

"We get a list from our coach on the 30 foods to eat," says Aedan Hickey, a junior at OABCIG High School in Ida Grove, Iowa.

Generally, a night of pasta before the race is a good thing, for several athletic endeavors. The Falcon runners, according to Hickey, often have a team dinner the night before a race, at someone's house or the Ida Grove Pizza Hut. The dinner features spaghetti, lasagna or pizza.

After a race? The Falcons often find a Pizza Ranch, be it in Storm Lake, Carroll, Sioux City or Denison. These runners can practically savage the buffet, replenishing calories burned on the hills of Siouxland parks and golf course layouts.

"I've had four bottles of water today and two granola bars," says Alyssa Mason, a freshman at OABCIG. "My mom made me scrambled eggs this morning and I had them on the bus on the way here."

"I had toast with peanut butter this morning," adds Madison Lansink, a Falcon sophomore. "I also had yogurt."

The list from Coach Bob Saunders may steer away competitive runners from junk food and sodas, cardinal sins of sorts in the running community.

"You stay away from fast food," says Skyler Wareham, a junior at OABCIG.

Coolers of water, chocolate milk and Gatorade or Power-Ade dotted the course on this Saturday. Runners walked during their short "cool-down" periods following the race, many of them sipping on an ice cold bottle of water. The OABCIG runners then sat on a blanket and dove into a mix of granola bars, bananas, chocolate milk and more water.

"Nature Valley granola bars," Mason said with a smile. "Honey and oats are the best!"

"I had a breakfast burrito on the bus this morning," Benson Phillips, an OABCIG junior admits. "I felt it right away."

"We try to avoid sugary foods," says Isaac Sorensen, a West Monona High School senior runner. "I don't eat a lot before a race, because I try to avoid cramping. I had a donut this morning, and shouldn't have."

Sorensen and his Spartan teammates rummage through a cooler of chocolate milk following the race.

"I drink chocolate milk once I'm done, everyone does," he says.

Does everyone like beef jerkey, the food item that led this story?

Only one runner mentions it: Aedan Hickey.

"Beef jerkey? Depends on how I feel," he says. "I had some today."

After the race, Hickey, consumes two bottles of water to cool down. He opens a granola bar and mentions the eggs he had earlier.

They weren't eggs off the farm, mind you. And not the eggs Sylvester Stallone ate raw before a workout made famous in "Rocky."

Hickey smiles. "Trolly sour eggs," he says. "They're candy."