Sometimes the best ideas are born in the most unexpected moments.
For beForm Nutrition founder Ben Bunting, that moment came during a cold, drizzly December day in 2024, somewhere deep in the Yorkshire forests of Dalby, where a gruelling marathon would ultimately change the direction of sports nutrition forever.
Into the Wild
The Dalby Forest Marathon, hosted by Wild Deer Events, is not your typical road race. This challenging event consists of two loops around fire tracks that wind through dense woodland, creating a 26.2-mile journey that tests both physical endurance and mental resilience.
When Ben signed up for the December 2024 edition, he knew he was in for a tough day, but he had no idea just how transformative the experience would become.
The morning started with a classic runner's mistake that would define the entire experience. "I'd packed everything except the most important thing," Ben recalls with a laugh. "My trail shoes were sitting at home while I was standing at the start line in road running shoes, about to tackle fire tracks and forest terrain for the next few hours."
Running in Isolation
What began as a packed field quickly thinned out as runners spread across the challenging course.
After completing the first loop, Ben found himself in an almost surreal situation. In the vast expanse of Dalby Forest, he encountered only five other runners for the remainder of the race.
The majority of his marathon was spent in complete solitude, with only the sound of his footsteps on wet gravel and the gentle patter of December drizzle on the forest canopy.
"It was eerily quiet," Ben remembers. "No phone signal meant no music, no podcasts, no distractions. Just me, the trees, and my thoughts for hours on end. In some ways, it was meditative, but it also meant I became hyper-aware of everything, including how sick I was getting of forcing down those traditional energy gels."
The isolation that might have broken some runners became Ben's laboratory for innovation.
Mile after mile, loop after loop, he found himself increasingly frustrated with the sticky, artificial-tasting gels that are a staple of endurance nutrition. "By mile 20, I was dreading the next gel," he admits. "That's when you know there's a problem – when the thing that's supposed to fuel you becomes something you have to force yourself to consume."
The Moment of Inspiration
Somewhere in the misty depths of Dalby Forest, between the repetitive crunch of fire tracks under inadequate road shoes and the relentless Yorkshire drizzle, an idea began to form. What if sports nutrition didn't have to taste artificial?
What if athletes could actually look forward to fueling during long events? What if there was a way to make performance nutrition that felt less like medicine and more like... well, like sweets?
"I started thinking about all the times I'd craved something different during long runs," Ben explains. "Something that would give me the same energy boost but actually taste good. Something I'd want to eat, not something I'd have to choke down. That's when the concept of beFuel sports sweets started taking shape."
Completing the Journey
Despite the challenging conditions, the inadequate footwear, and the mental breakthrough happening mid-race, Ben pushed through to complete the full Dalby Forest Marathon.
The sense of accomplishment was twofold; not only had he conquered a notoriously tough course in less-than-ideal circumstances, but he'd also stumbled upon what would become beForm Nutrition's next major innovation.
"Crossing that finish line felt different from other races," Ben reflects. "Yes, I was exhausted and my feet were killing me from running trails in road shoes, but I was also buzzing with excitement about this new product idea. I couldn't wait to get home and start experimenting."
From Forest Floor to Laboratory
The weeks following the Dalby Forest Marathon saw Ben diving headfirst into research and development. The vision was clear: create a sports nutrition product that delivered the same performance benefits as traditional gels but in a format that athletes would actually enjoy consuming.
The result of that forest-born inspiration? beFuel sports sweets – a revolutionary approach to endurance fueling that tastes like candy but performs like premium sports nutrition.
"Every time I see a packet of beFuel sweets now, I think about that cold, wet day in Dalby Forest," Ben says. "Running alone through those trees, gradually getting more and more fed up with traditional gels, not knowing that frustration was about to lead to our biggest product innovation yet."
The Power of Uncomfortable Moments
The Dalby Forest Marathon of December 2024 perfectly encapsulates what beForm Nutrition represents: real-world testing, authentic experiences, and innovation born from genuine need.
Ben's willingness to put himself through challenging conditions, even when poorly prepared, demonstrates the hands-on approach that drives every product development decision at the company.
Sometimes the best innovations come not from comfortable boardrooms or sterile laboratories, but from moments of genuine frustration experienced by real athletes in real conditions.
In Ben's case, it took a solitary marathon through wet Yorkshire woodland, running in the wrong shoes with no distractions, to realise that sports nutrition could be so much better.
The next time you're enjoying beFuel sports sweets during a long run, remember their origin story: born from drizzle, solitude, and one founder's refusal to accept that performance nutrition has to taste terrible.
After all, the best fuel for your body should fuel your enthusiasm too.
