Those of us who ran the full 180 miles were burning around 6000 kcals a day i.e. up to three times normal daily consumption. There were two issues really firstly how to make sure we ate enough during a day to replenish this output and then how to run and make sure we were topped up with energy. We all had different strategies which varied greatly:
One runner had cooked breakfast and seemed to live on malt loaf (Soreen) during the day followed by eating huge quantities at night.
Another ate tinned meals during the 10 minute stops we had 3-4 times a day.
Some ate sandwiches in the breaks and nibbled on the run.
Actually there is no single strategy that will work for everyone. These people had tried different things out and discovered what worked for them.
My strategy was as follows:
Cereal and toast with coffee for breakfast with some sort of packed breakfast to eat on the go. I had things like boiled eggs, egg sandwiches or sausage sandwiches.
On the run I ate home made date bars, Nutrigrain breakfast bars (more like a cake), peanuts, chocolate and when I needed a boost a gel with caffeine. I also made sure I have some coffee at the breaks. I would try and get a sandwich around mid day to nibble on. I tried to eat every hour and tried to limit the quantity so that my stomach was not full.
In the evening I ate a hearty meal but tried to steer clear of meat as we were eating late and found that eating a heavy meal disturbed my sleep.
I didn't get everything right. On the third and the last day I got too tired and I forgot to eat in the afternoon which I paid for at the end of the day. You really need to force yourself to eat even if you don't feel like it. As a matter of interest once I was rehydrated I discovered that I had lost about 2 kilos in weight which for me seems to be a calorie deficit of about 14,000 kcals.
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