September 3, 2026
Found in “Skills and tips, Activities, Gear”
Ultra-running, maybe the only sport where jars of icing, cups of instant noodles and sour candies make an appearance. When you’re running upwards of 50 kilometres, your body burns through a lot of calories, sugars and glucose. See MEC staffer and ultra-runner, Charles’, tips for developing your own bonk-proof fueling strategy for your ultra-marathon training.
What are your top tips for fueling for an ultra-race?
The most important thing when it comes to nutrition and hydration is to start before you feel really hungry and thirsty. Consuming water, carbs and electrolytes often reduces the strain on your GI system. GI distress is one of the number 1 reason people DNF their ultra race even if they have put in all the hard miles in the lead up. Practice your nutrition and hydration strategy in your long runs in the lead up to the race – do not leave it to chance!
What is your go-to nutrition strategy?
My strategy is a combination of DIY gels, high carb gels, drink mixes and electrolyte pills and powders. I also try to consume some solid foods to break things up. Mashed potatoes or tater tots are some of my favourite mid-race to help stave off hunger, but I’ve trained a while to get to this point. Pairing this with how I feel I can increase or decrease carbs, electrolytes or water to keep me on track.
“If you don’t want to go the drink mix, gel route, experiment with whole foods like salted potatoes, watermelon or any other carbohydrate rich foods.”
How did you land on a strategy that worked for you?
I kept trying new things in each training block. I started off with only drink mix and water and that worked decently well for me. From there I started experimenting with gels and other concentrated foods and electrolyte tablets. I find a combination of drink mix and gels or “real food” like potatoes are great combo as drink mixes provide a steady stream of carbs, water and electrolytes if gels and other foods stop agreeing with you.
What are some pro tips you would give a beginner?
Start with a moderate amount of carbs per hour, don’t jump straight into high carb fuelling as the stomach is something you also have to train! You don’t need to go straight for gels and drink mixes. Table sugar, Gatorade, flavourings and just your favourite candy are a great starting point. As you get closer to your event, make sure to practice the strategy you’d like to employ. i.e. if you plan on tacking a packet of drink mix and a gel every hour, please make sure to try it out on your longs runs 4-6 weeks out from your event. If you can have a variety of options whether that’s different products or flavourings this can really help. At most aid stations there are chips, sodas, candy, pickles and a nutrition sponsor. I would highly recommend trying to consume these things on your long runs so if a particular thing isn’t going down you have options to keep some fuel in!
How long have you been training/preparing for your upcoming race?
Its taken me years to get to the point where I have felt ready to take on 100-mile races. I started off doing 50km races and slowly graduated to 50-mile (80km), then 100km races before I was ready to take on the longer ones. With each training cycle and race with adequate rest I’ve built my body’s ability to take the beating these races often dish out. I’m someone who wants to push their body to see what its capable of but in the most sensible way. The body’s ability to adapt to massive mileage takes time but it’s possible with proper structure to training, nutrition and focus on recovery.
