How to Fuel a Marathon: Complete Marathon Nutrition Guide | FTP Endurance Fuel
Runner's World Award-Winning Fuel
How to Fuel a Marathon, Step by Step
A start-to-finish race-day plan: exactly when to eat, what to drink and how to keep your legs firing through mile 26.
Get Race-Day Fuel1:1 glucose:fructose · No sticky gel wrappers · Made in the UK
Quick answer: eat a carb-based breakfast 2–3 hours before the gun, take your first fuel 30–45 minutes into the race, then keep taking roughly 30g of carbs (two FTP pastilles) every 20–30 minutes to hit 60–90g per hour, with regular sips of fluid throughout. Every step should already be rehearsed — race day is never the day to try something new.
The golden rule: little, often, early
Most marathon fuelling failures aren't about eating the wrong thing — they're about starting too late. By the time you feel empty, your glycogen is already gone and no amount of frantic snacking claws it back quickly. The winning pattern is small, regular doses from early in the race: your gut absorbs a steady trickle far better than occasional large hits, and your pace never has to survive a fuel gap.
This is where pastilles earn their place. Two FTP pastilles are about 30g of carbohydrate, so "two every 20–30 minutes" is your entire mid-race arithmetic — no sachets to tear, no maths at mile 20.
Your race-day fuelling timeline
| When | What to do |
| Night before | Carb-rich dinner you've eaten before long runs. Lay out your fuel with your kit. |
| 2–3 hours before | Familiar carbohydrate breakfast — porridge, toast and jam, or a bagel. Sip fluids steadily. |
| On the start line | Nothing new, nothing heavy. A final few sips of drink if you're thirsty. |
| 30–45 min in | First fuel: two pastilles (≈30g carbs), before you feel you need them. |
| Every 20–30 min after | Two more pastilles, on repeat, to hold 60–90g of carbs per hour. |
| Throughout | Sip 400–800ml of fluid per hour depending on heat, with electrolytes on warm days. |
| Miles 20–26 | Keep the doses coming — this is exactly where fuelling pays off. Don't stop early. |
| After the finish | Carbs within the first hour or so to restock glycogen and kick-start recovery. |
Hydration: the other half of the plan
Carbs keep your legs turning; fluid and sodium keep everything else working. Aim for 400–800ml per hour — more in heat, less on a cool day — and decide in advance whether you'll carry a bottle or rely on course stations. If you sweat heavily or the forecast is warm, dropping an electrolyte tablet into your bottle replaces the sodium plain water can't.
Rehearse your plan this weekend
Run your next long run on exactly the fuel and timings you'll use on race day.
Practise the plan, not just the miles
Your gut is trainable. Run at least two or three long runs on your full race-day routine — same breakfast, same pastille schedule, same drink — and absorption that once felt queasy becomes routine. Rehearsal also irons out logistics: which pocket the pastilles live in, how many you need per hour at your pace and how the fuel tastes an hour deep when you're breathing hard.
Your race-day kit
Tart Cherry Energy Pastilles 1kg
Your every-20-minutes race fuel — around 30 servings per pouch.
£42.99
Shop now
FTP Electrolyte Tablets – Cherry
Sodium for warm race days — drop one in your bottle and sip.
£5.99
Shop now
FTP Sports Bottle 710ml
Enough for around an hour's drinking between refills or stations.
£6.99
Shop nowCommon Questions
When should I take my first fuel in a marathon?
Between 30 and 45 minutes in — well before you feel hungry or tired. Starting early keeps glycogen topped up rather than trying to refill it once it's gone, which is far harder mid-race.
What if my stomach turns mid-race?
Ease off rather than stopping entirely: smaller doses more often, a few extra sips of water, and slow fractionally for a couple of minutes while things settle. A 1:1 glucose:fructose fuel helps here too, as the two sugars are absorbed through separate pathways, reducing the load on any single route.
Should I carry my own drink or use the water stations?
Either works — what matters is deciding beforehand and practising it. Carrying a soft flask or bottle gives you control over what and when you drink; stations save weight but mean drinking whatever's on the course, wherever it happens to be.
Can I fuel a marathon with pastilles alone?
Yes — two pastilles every 20–30 minutes delivers 60–90g of carbohydrate per hour, which covers the full recommended range. Pair them with water or electrolyte drink and you have a complete race-day strategy in one pocket.
Lock in your race-day plan
Simple fuel, a simple schedule and no surprises at mile 20.
Shop Race-Day FuelKeep reading: the complete marathon fuelling guide · carbohydrate loading for running · hydration and electrolytes explained · how many gels for a marathon?
