Paris Marathon 2025: How to Fuel Your Race Properly

Your pre-race breakfast

Race-day fueling starts well before the marathon begins. To arrive with enough energy and properly hydrated, you need to pay close attention to your nutrition and hydration during the final week before the race. Put simply, the meals leading up to race day are essential for topping up your reserves.

Your breakfast is a crucial part of your nutrition strategy for the Paris Marathon. There are things to get right, and plenty of things to avoid. In terms of timing, it’s best to eat breakfast well in advance, around 2 to 3 hours before the start, to avoid bloating and digestive issues.

To do its job, breakfast should be light while still providing enough energy for the opening miles. Sugary foods, high-fibre ingredients and overly fatty products are best avoided. You’d be making a mistake and increasing your chances of a blood sugar spike.

Instead, go for a balanced breakfast with some protein, such as Greek yoghurt or eggs, a little fat, such as a spoonful of almond butter, and carbohydrates from a banana or oats. We recommend testing your pre-race breakfast during training so you can fine-tune both the quantities and the products.

Hydration during the marathon

During the 2025 Paris Marathon, you’ll be able to refuel at 13 aid stations. Overall, you won’t run more than 5 kilometres between aid stations, so you can afford to start with less on you if you’re racing at a solid pace.

✔ Why hydration matters in a marathon

Hydrating is essential when you’re going to be running for several hours. During exercise, your body uses a cooling mechanism to bring down its temperature: sweating. Water leaves the body through the pores in your skin. To keep that mechanism working and avoid dehydration caused by sweating, you need to drink.

✔ How should you hydrate during the race?

The best strategy is to drink regularly every 20 minutes, taking small sips from the very start. Needless to say, you should also arrive at the start line having drunk enough in the preceding hours.

What should you put in your bottle or soft flask? Good question. Plain water is perfectly fine. However, the race organisers will already provide water at the aid stations, so you could use your own bottle for an energy drink or some electrolytes instead. These help replace fluid losses. Needless to say, race day is not the time to try a new drink. The advantage of carrying an energy drink is that it provides carbohydrates while keeping you hydrated.

Fueling during the marathon

Many runners turn race-day nutrition into a complicated quadratic equation nobody remembers from school. In reality, fueling during a race is a simple, no-nonsense process to put in place. That said, runners need to take the time to test their strategy in training. It can take several sessions to find the formula that works for you. No, it isn’t impossible.

✔ Take on carbohydrates during the race

As with hydration, don’t wait until you’re hungry to put more fuel in the engine. Spoiler alert: by then, it will already be too late. During a marathon, your body draws heavily on its energy stores, and without enough carbohydrate, you risk running out of fuel. To avoid the famous wall around the 30th kilometre, it’s essential to fuel regularly. Ideally, take on between 30 and 60 g of carbohydrate per hour through gels, purées, energy drinks or fruit jellies. Test these products and quantities in training to avoid unpleasant surprises on race day. Make sure you hydrate alongside them to support digestion and reduce the risk of stomach problems. By planning ahead and fueling regularly, you’ll give yourself the best chance of reaching the finish line in (more or less) good shape.

Fueling options

✔ Energy gels

Energy gels are widely used by runners, particularly because they contain a high concentration of carbohydrates. A single gel delivers a sizeable hit of carbohydrate, around 20 g depending on the brand. They allow runners to fuel less frequently while still getting the carbohydrates they need.

✔ Energy drinks

Energy drinks are often used alongside gels. They are carbohydrate-rich drinks, usually flavoured with options such as berry or mint, although some are neutral. Runners value them, especially those who struggle to eat while running, because they provide carbohydrates in liquid form. Their carbohydrate content is generally well balanced.

✔ Energy purées

Purées and fruit compotes have become a major hit with runners in recent years. They sit somewhere between a gel and a compote, making them a good option for anyone who struggles with gels. Their carbohydrate content is lower than that of gels, however.

✔ Solid foods

Bars, bananas, dried fruit... solid foods are often available at on-course aid stations. They aren’t the easiest products to take in while running. Still, they’ve saved more than a few runners hit by the hunger pangs.

Although race-day fueling is personal, there are a few basic nutrition principles to follow. It’s up to you to find the right quantities and products to optimise your 2025 Paris Marathon. Keep in mind that you’re more likely to underfuel than to eat too much.