For races longer than about 90 minutes, consuming fuel during the race prevents glycogen depletion and maintains performance. Your body can store enough carbohydrate for roughly 90 minutes of running, after which performance declines significantly without refueling. Understanding when to fuel, what to consume, and how to do so without causing digestive distress helps you maintain energy throughout longer races.
The general guideline is consuming 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour during races lasting beyond 90 minutes. This might come from sports drinks, gels, chews, or real food like bananas or dates available at aid stations. Starting fueling relatively early—around 30-45 minutes into the race rather than waiting until you feel depleted—maintains energy levels rather than trying to recover from depletion. By the time you feel energy dropping, you’re already significantly depleted, and recovering is harder than preventing depletion.
Sports drinks provide both carbohydrates and electrolytes through a convenient liquid form. Many runners rely primarily on drinks available at aid stations for fueling, taking small amounts at each station rather than carrying their own supplies. However, if you’ve only trained drinking water, race day isn’t the time to discover how your stomach handles sugary sports drinks. Similarly, if the race will offer a specific brand of sports drink, try that brand during training to ensure your stomach tolerates it.
Energy gels provide concentrated carbohydrates in portable, easy-to-consume form. They’re popular because you can carry several in a pocket or belt without much bulk or weight. However, gels require practice to use effectively—taking them with water, understanding how your stomach responds, getting comfortable consuming them while running rather than stopping. The concentrated sweetness bothers some people’s stomachs, and using gels without testing them during training is a common race-day disaster that leads to stomach distress. If you plan to use gels, incorporate them into training runs similar to race length and intensity.
Some runners prefer real food like bananas, oranges, pretzels, or dates that races often provide at later aid stations. These whole foods sometimes sit better in the stomach than processed gels or drinks, though they’re bulkier to carry if you want to provide your own. Again, test your fueling plan during training—what works in someone else’s stomach might not work in yours, and there’s significant individual variation in tolerance.
The cardinal rule of race fueling is never trying anything new on race day. Whatever fueling strategy you plan to use should have been practiced repeatedly during training runs that approximate race duration and intensity. Your digestive system under race stress is less tolerant than at rest; foods or drinks you handle fine normally might cause problems when running hard for extended periods. Additionally, practice the mechanics of consuming fuel while running—opening packages, drinking from cups while moving, timing intake. These skills feel awkward initially but become smooth with practice, allowing you to fuel efficiently during the race without breaking stride or wasting time. Proper fueling strategy, tested and refined during training, can make the difference between finishing strong and struggling through the final portion feeling depleted and desperate for the finish line.
