Running Nutrition: What to Eat Before, During, and After Your Race

This guide covers the basics of how to fuel as a runner, including what to eat day-to-day, what to eat before a run, how to fuel during a race, and how to recover properly afterwards.

The advice we’ve put together here is what works for most runners most of the time, based on what science says and what experienced athletes tend to do. Use it as a starting point, but remember to listen to your body and learn from how it responds, because everyone is slightly different.

Everyday fuelling for runners

It can be tempting to fixate on race-day nutrition, but what you eat day to day matters just as much. Running is demanding on your body, especially as you start doing longer distances, and food is how you meet that demand.

Carbohydrates

Running is largely powered by carbohydrates. The harder or longer you run, the more you rely on them. That’s why bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, oats, and fruit are staples in most runners’ diets. If you’re training regularly, carbs should make up the biggest share of what you eat, especially in higher-mileage weeks.

Protein

Protein plays a vital role in repairing damaged muscle tissue after you run. It has become a bit of a buzzword in fitness circles in recent years and seems to be crammed into all sorts of random foods where you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find it (protein granola, anyone?). However, if you eat a balanced diet with a source of protein in most meals - such as chicken, eggs, fish, or tofu - you’re probably already getting enough.

Fats

Fats are often overlooked by runners - or, worse, feared. But they’re needed for loads of important stuff like hormone balance, joint health, and slow-burn energy on longer runs. Healthy fats can be found in avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, oily fish, and full-fat dairy.

Whole foods

Unfortunately, the perfect running diet doesn't exist. Chances are, you'll find that you feel best when eating plenty of whole foods. Think fresh fruit and veg, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Processed foods and treats are fine occasionally, especially for quick fuel after a long run - nobody's asking you to give up chocolate! - but if they make up the bulk of your diet, that's not ideal.

Eating enough matters

One of the fastest routes to injury is not eating enough. It puts your body under unnecessary strain, and when you’re training frequently, that’s bound to have consequences sooner or later.

If your training load increases, remember to increase your food intake at the same time. You wouldn’t try to race a car with no fuel in the tank, and it’s the same for your body and running.

What to eat before you run

The ideal time window for eating before you run is 30-60 minutes for a light snack and 2-3 hours for a full meal. Eating too close to a run can give you an upset stomach (every runner's worst nightmare); if you eat too early, you might run out of energy before you’ve really got going.

What to avoid

Some foods are more likely to cause problems than others. Here are the things to avoid:

• Anything very high in fat (like creamy sauces or big handfuls of nuts)

• Anything high in fibre (bran-based cereals, beans)

• Spicy food

• Alcohol

• Anything you haven’t tried before (especially on race day!)

Pre-run meal ideas

A good pre-run meal should contain plenty of easy-to-digest carbs for quick energy. Try one of these:

• Porridge topped with honey

• Bagel topped with banana

• Low-fibre cereal with milk or non-dairy alternative

• Rice bowl

• Ham sandwich

• Toast with eggs

• Pancakes

• Granola with berries and yoghurt

• Pasta with sauce

Pre-run snack ideas

• Banana

• Flapjack

• Energy gels or bars

• Dates or raisins

• Jelly beans

• Pretzels

• Granola bar

• A couple of squares of chocolate

What about early morning runs?

Race day often starts early, so fitting in a full meal 2-3 hours beforehand might not be realistic. If you’re up at five a.m. for a seven a.m. start, opt for something light and easy to digest like a banana or a slice of toast with honey. Give yourself as much time to digest it as you can.

For night owls, eating this early in the morning can be tough, so it’s worth practising in training. Long runs in your build-up provide the ideal opportunity to work out what your stomach can handle at the crack of dawn.

What about running on an empty stomach?

Some runners, myself included, prefer to do shorter runs on an empty stomach, particularly early in the morning. That’s perfectly fine for any easy-to-moderate run lasting less than an hour, because your body will use up its existing glycogen stores for fuel. Just make sure you eat something afterwards to top the stores up again.

For any longer, harder runs, you should make time to eat before you set off, even if it’s just a snack.

The golden rule of fuelling

One rule to live by: never try anything new on race day. Not the new gel flavour your friend keeps telling you is great, not the trendy pre-run snack you saw on Insta. Now is not the time to take risks; stick to what you know.

Fuelling during a race

Now for the bit that trips newer runners up: mid-race fuelling.

Fuelling for 5k and 10k races

5k and 10k races are at the shorter end of the spectrum, so you won’t usually need to fuel mid-race. A solid pre-race meal or snack will do the job. However, if your estimated finish time is over an hour, you might need to consider taking a gel or a date to top up your energy reserves.

Fuelling for a half marathon

If you’re running for between 90 minutes and three hours, fuelling is non-negotiable. Aim for 30-60 grams of carbs per hour during the race, and bring a post-race snack with a 3:1 carb-to-protein ratio to help you recover afterwards.

Fuelling for a marathon

Marathons are hard, and incorrect fuelling only makes them harder. Aim for 60-90 grams of carbs per hour, starting within the first 30-45 minutes of the race.

What to eat during a race

The amount of carbs you need to consume can seem daunting, especially for the full marathon distance. So how on earth do you meet those requirements?

The most common answer is energy gels: single-serve packets of concentrated carbohydrates designed to deliver energy quickly and efficiently. There are lots of different types and flavours out there, and you might have to experiment a bit before you find one that suits you, as some runners experience stomach issues when using them.

Other common fuelling options include sports chews, specially formulated sports drinks (Lucozade, for example), sweets, dried fruit, or fruit puree pouches.

Race week: what to eat before the big day

Race week is not the time to overhaul your diet, so as tempting as it might be, resist the urge to try new foods, restrict what you eat, or scoff a giant pasta dinner the night before the race. Now is the time to eat what you already know works, with a few small adjustments as you get closer to the start line.

During the week

Stick to your usual training runs and meals, and drink plenty of water throughout the week rather than trying to play catch-up the night before. It’s normal to feel a bit hungrier than usual during a taper; your body is preparing for race day.

Should you bother carb loading?

Carb loading is when you increase the amount of carbs in your diet in the days before a race to top up your muscles’ glycogen stores. It does work, but it’s only really worth doing for races over 90 minutes (half marathons, marathons, and anything longer). If you’re doing a 5k or a 10k, your existing glycogen stores will be more than enough.

If you do decide to carb load, start 2-3 days out. Gradually shift the balance of your meals so more of what you eat is coming from carbs. Add extra rice, pasta, and potatoes. But remember the goal is not to eat more calories overall - it’s to change how you get those calories.

The day before

Eat whatever foods are familiar to you. Aim to have a moderate-sized dinner earlier in the evening rather than a heavier one later - you want your body to have digested most of it by the time you try to sleep. Minimise any spicy, high-fat, or high-fibre foods.

Race morning

You’ll ideally want to eat something 2-3 hours before the start if you can. Simple foods like porridge, toast, a banana, or a bagel are all great options. Ideally, stick to whatever you’ve been eating before your long runs.

If the start is too early for you to eat a proper breakfast, make sure you at least have a snack instead. Something is better than nothing.

Sip water and electrolytes steadily across the morning, and definitely avoid chugging a big drink right before you start the race.

Post-race recovery

In the first 30-60 minutes after a race, aim to get some carbs and protein in to start replacing what you’ve used up. This is the window where your body is best set up to start refuelling and repair.

Chocolate milk is a classic (and delicious) recovery choice because it contains a near-perfect ratio of carbs to protein. Alternatively, you might opt for a banana with peanut butter, a recovery shake, fruit and yoghurt, or a sandwich.

Later in the day, focus on eating a nutritious meal and drinking plenty of fluids. Recovery nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated; eating a range of whole foods will support your body just as well as any tailored product in a shaker bottle.

After longer races, recovery continues long past race day. Keep eating and hydrating properly in the days after, especially if you’ve raced a marathon or ultra.

A few final notes

Everyone’s different. What works well for one runner won’t necessarily work for you. Use this guide as a starting point, then listen to what your body tells you and adapt.

Nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle. Eating well matters, but so do training, sleep, and pacing. Getting your fuelling right won’t make up for skipped long runs, and it won’t rescue your race if you go out too fast.

Ask for help if you need it. If you want personalised training and nutrition advice, our training partner Coopah has qualified coaches who can build you a plan and answer your questions about fuelling.