Marathon - no gels/food?

54 replies

adventurer2020 · 07/01/2025 14:47

Has anyone got experience of running a marathon (looking at c. 4 hours ) without eating anything or taking any gels? They never seem to sit right with me but I also have never run that far! Marathon isn't til October so I have time either way. TIA 😊

OP posts:

Riverswims · 07/01/2025 15:22

I did and it wasn’t nice. the best marathons I’ve done were smaller ones so you can start earlier and eating almost until the start then plenty of snack stations, and sips of tailwind or it does live up to its name

JacquiDaytona · 07/01/2025 15:20

No you will need something!! Gels are gross but with practice they’re doable. Could you deal with jelly babies or the energy balls?

broccolienthusiast · 07/01/2025 15:13

what’s the furthest you’ve run so far? Your body can store enough glycogen for approximately 90min of intense cardio so I normally don’t bother for a half but for a full marathon I’d always take gels. Even in training, if I run 30km with no gels I feel like death after so it also helps with recovery. Just experiment with different ones in training, I find maurten gels very easy on the stomach

BogRollBOGOF · 07/01/2025 14:56

What time of day are you likely to start?

I did mine in about 5 hours, so 1) that's a long time to not eat and 2) my wave started at 10:50, so finished at around 4pm. I had to leave the hotel at 8:40 to get public transport to the start, so my overnight oats and fruit for breakfast were not going to last me until 4pm even without running 26.2 miles along the way.

Plus my appetite for breakfast was dented by nerves.

I ate food along the way. Running when ravenous is not fun. (I don't get on with gels/ artificial sweetners so that makes real food the better option for me)

A faster runner starting earlier in the day has different needs to consider.

Unflip

1 2 3

Swipe left for the next trending thread