How To Effectively Fuel For An Ultra Marathon

The longer your event, the more important fuelling well becomes. But what should you eat & drink, & how much? In this video Mark and James go over the key nutrition you need to be consuming & when to have it. It's important to fuel your body correctly so you can perform your best!

0:00 - Intro
0:34 - Glycogen and fat for fuel
1:31 - Three things you need to do
2:34 - Pre Event
4:25 - Race day morning
5:06 - The event itself
7:20 - Hydration
9:19 - Caffeine

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What's your favourite snack to bring on a run? Let us know in the comment section below! 🍌🍫🍬

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[joshjay]

Thanks for this! I’m running in a 50k event at the end of October. As of today, half marathons have been my longest runs, so it’ll be a big step up!

[mitchatkins]

Great point about the caffeine build up in the last sentences, James.

[mandylowther]

Running my first ultra in March in Dunedin, New Zealand. 55 km of beautiful trail running! I am yet to actually do a full marathon, but am hoping this is going to be a bit of fun. Thank you for the advice :)

[duggiefreshuk]

I've got a 100mile ultra event coming up in September this year and also have a 50k fell run in 2 months I've run 5 ultras. (Runs being over 50k, one was 42.5 miles which was my longest) I'm aiming on doing 50miles within the next week and to keep building it up and as I'm doing this to learn about how to fuel myself. Very helpful video and great advice 👍

[Kelly_Ben]

One of the things I factor in when choosing ultras is how awesome their aid stations are. Home made Mac n cheese, soup, quesadillas, grilled cheese, bacon... I'm thankful my stomach is solid and my intensity low enough to digest it on the run. It also frees up scheduling... no more calculating when to eat/ run for training. I make it a point to head out the door for an easy run immediately after lunch or dinner numerous times in training, to be prepared for a 12 hour race. The only time I've had stomach issues during a race is when I took a gel every 45 minutes for a 6 hour race in addition to snacks. 🤢

[bucketlistworld]

Carb loading is the only reason I run I’m not missing out on that 😂

[realrichloen]

Great video guys, always a joy to watch as it’s very informative and professional without any product endorsements. Well done 👏👏👏

[timvanmonero]

i always eat pizza. because easier to eat cold than burgers.

[gtn]

What's your favourite snack to bring on a run? Let us know in the comment section below! 🍌🍫🍬

[jannikheidrich]

I set myself up to cycle home for a weekend from the city that I study at, ca. 850km, 5000m of altidude and 3 Days on my trusty Cargo Bike to do it.
Thank you for elaborating a little, I will take you suggestions into consideration, not only for the effort, but for my training aswell, and that I didn't consider before.
Thank you a lot!

[scottreel]

Thanks, guys, great help as I begin planning my ultra nutrition.

[halmclarry]

I've run a few ultras and until I watched your video I hadn't thought about the huge difference in the amount of calories I was expending vs the amount I was eating. I dnf'd at the Rocky raccoon 100 with an uncontrollable lean at about mile 94. I'm going to try again with more food and more electrolytes. Thanks for posting this. I've seen countless videos and calories in vs calories out never clicked until now. Thanks!

[_Zabamund_]

Running my first marathon this May in Leeds so thanks for this advice! Btw this is the Rob Burrow marathon aiming to raise money to fight MND. I won't link to my fundraising page but if you want to help just look up the marathon and give what you can or come and run it with us!

[robohippy]

I do like to do one distance swim per week, and for now, that is a 3 mile swim. For carb replacement, the chews and bars don't work, I I use the PHF powder. Last 3 mile swim was 7 or 8 bottles, 16 oz. with one of the 1500 tabs and a scoop of the carb powder. I am in the very high sweat Using the carb powders is totally new to me, and still figuring out what I need. I did notice that I burn more calories in the pool than I do on the bike, but don't bike as much any more. Oh, last time for the 3 mile swim was 2:15, and should be able to get that under 2.... Also, I am 72 years old. I may need to try my 3 mile swim with no carbs some time, just to see what happens....

Oh, I remember a while back you asked people what their race day breakfast was. I was surprised how many said porridge, which to me is oatmeal. That is my main breakfast....

[peterseager]

Running the OCC (55k) at the end of August. My craving on my last 50k was ginger beer. Drank buckets of it at he aid stations. Didn’t eat much in the way of solid food, but nibbled on energy bars and had regular gels. Plus watermelon and oranges at the aid stations (Tarawera Ultra in NZ. Famous for its aid stations🙂)

[ericmain]

I got my trusty maple syrup with some salt for my long runs

[WalkingPoles]

Just an observation: it's amazing how well James acclimatised to British weather - just light jumper in contrast to Mark in cosy dawn jacket and a hat. Or is he getting ready for Norseman/Celtman?

[EllieGilbert-df]

I'm doing Wings for Life and going for top 30 in the world!

[alharris]

Thanks squad. Starting to ramp up for my first 50 miler in June.

[racheler]

I’m running the Crater Rim Ultra in Christchurch, NZ in mid October