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Run Gum
Price: $2 per pack or $23 per 12 pack
Flavors: Cinnamon, Mint, Fruit
Run Gum is chewing gum with caffeine, taurine and B vitamins. Designed for athletes, Run Gum comes in a two-piece, waterproof packet and each piece looks similar to a Nuun hydration tablet.
According to Run Gum, you only need 10 minutes of chewing to get the sublingual benefit. In that time, you’ll absorb:
50 mg of caffeine (same as half a cup O’ Joe)
20 mg of taurine (a conditional amino acid)
2.2 mg of vitamin B 6
3 mcg of vitamin B 12
Once you get beyond the initial chalky texture, the gum chews like a regular old piece of piece of Double Bubble. On cold days, it may break into pieces, but congeals with a bit of chomping.
Of the flavors, cinnamon tasted truest. The company is currently working on gaining funding to increase the caffeine strength so that one tablet will contain 100 mg of caffeine to keep you amped for your next 100-miler or simply staying alert at your desk come 3:30 in the afternoon.
A word of caution: this gum is easy to mindlessly pop in your mouth and this reviewer has already spent the wee hours of the morning staring at the ceiling wondering where the new insomnia had come from. It really works!
—Megan Janssen is the Assistant Editor of Trail Runner, and is looking forward to getting some sleep.