Supplements for Runners — Running Nutrition | 6AM Run

If there's one question that keeps marathoners up at night, it's this: how many gels do I actually need per hour? Take too few and you hit the wall at mile 20. Take too many and your stomach stages a protest you'll remember for years. After years of racing and fueling mistakes of my own, here's the honest, no-BS way to calculate your own number — for gels, gummies, chews, or whatever you actually like eating while running.

The science in 60 seconds

Your body runs on two fuel tanks: the carbs stored in your muscles and liver (called glycogen), and whatever you eat mid-race. Your stored glycogen covers roughly 90–120 minutes of running — which is why most marathoners feel great at mile 13 and then the wheels fall off somewhere around mile 20.

The research consensus is clear: for efforts longer than about 2.5 hours, aim for 30–60 grams of carbs per hour. Athletes who train their gut (yes, your stomach is trainable) can push toward 90 grams per hour, but that requires products that mix glucose and fructose, and it requires practice. Sixty grams an hour is the sweet spot for most marathoners — aggressive enough to keep you moving late in the race, gentle enough for most stomachs.

Step 1: Know your time on course

This is where your expected finish time matters. A 3-hour marathoner needs ~3 hours of fueling. A 5-hour marathoner needs ~5 hours — and takes in less per hour, because their intensity is lower and the stomach tolerates food worse over a longer day. Estimate your finish time from your longest recent run or a race-predictor calculator, then add 5–10 minutes for honesty.

Step 2: Pick your per-hour carb target

• First marathon / sensitive stomach: 30–40g per hour
• Experienced, training-hard runner: 60g per hour
• Veteran with a trained gut: up to 90g per hour (only if you've practiced it in training)

When in doubt, start with 60 and adjust in training. That number is where most marathon PRs are fueled.

Step 3: Convert to gels per hour

Here's the math nobody shows you. Most energy gels contain 20–30g of carbs per gel (check the label — they vary). Chews and gummies vary by brand and pack size, so always divide your hourly target by the carbs per serving of your product.

Three worked examples at the 60g-per-hour target, using a typical 25g-per-gel product:

See the pattern? Most runners land at 2–3 gels per hour. The calculator isn't magic — it's just division. But seeing your own number on paper turns fueling from guesswork into a plan.

Step 4: Build the timing schedule

The biggest mistake isn't the amount — it's waiting too long to start. Don't wait until you're hungry or fading. By the time you feel the bonk, you're already deep in the hole. The protocol that works:

1. First fuel at 30–45 minutes in. Top off the tank while your stomach is still happy.
2. Keep the interval consistent. If your math says every 25 minutes, set a watch alert and don't skip one.
3. Water with your fuel, not sports drink — or vice versa. Sports drinks count as carbs too. If the course offers Gatorade at every station, that changes your math. One runner's honest advice: pick one system and don't stack drink + gels unless you've practiced it.

The honest part: gels aren't the only answer

Here's what the brands won't tell you: the best fuel is the fuel you will actually eat at mile 21. Gels deliver the fastest, most precise carbs — that's real, and I respect it. But plenty of runners can't stand gel texture late in a race, or get nauseous on them. For those runners, gummies and chews aren't a compromise — they're the smarter choice, because a slightly-slower carb you actually take beats the perfect carb you leave in your pocket.

I wrote a full breakdown of the tradeoffs — gels vs gummies vs chews — if you want the honest comparison before race day. And if race day is close, read my race-week nutrition plan and my marathon-morning breakfast guide to lock the full picture.

Practice this twice before race day

Whatever number you land on, test it on two long runs. Your gut is a muscle — it adapts to carb intake the same way your legs adapt to mileage. The runners who "can't handle" 60g an hour usually just never trained for it. Do your final fueling dress rehearsal 2–3 weeks out, at goal race pace, with the exact product and timing you'll use on the day.

Personally, I fuel my long runs and races with 6AM Run Marathon Gummies — real carbs in a chew that's easy on my stomach when everything hurts, and I can pop them without breaking stride. Whatever you choose, pick it early, train with it, and do the math above so you know exactly how many packs are going in your pocket.

And when you cross that finish line, don't forget the other half of the equation: your muscles need to rebuild. Recovery starts with protein and aminos within an hour — that's what FinishLine is for. See you at 6AM.

— Hami, 6AM Run

Fuel your run right: Explore our pre workout nutrition for runners — clean energy formulas built for morning miles, tempo runs, and race day.