The Boston Marathon is unlike any other marathon race. You board a bus to Hopkinton and spend several hours anxiously waiting at Athletes' Village alongside thousands of other excited and nervous runners. Although running 26.2 miles is the familiar part, the Boston Marathon (similar to a few other events like the London Marathon) has a logistical component with the wave starts and needing to arrive 2-3 hours before the race start. Most runners will begin running between 10:15-11:30am. That gap between the morning "pre race" meal and the start is where many runners get it wrong. Despite being physically prepared, there's a chance of either under-fueling and hitting the wall early on, or over-eating and fighting GI distress through the Newton Hills.
If you are running the Boston marathon and you have concerns about how to fuel and hydrate on race morning, this blog gives you a simple timeline for breakfast, village fueling, and pre-race hydration so that you can perform at your best at the Boston Marathon.
Timing Is Everything
Pre-race nutrition isn’t about eating as much as possible, it’s about topping off glycogen stores without leaving too much food in your stomach at the gun start. The ideal window for your main breakfast meal is ~3 hours before your wave start. That means most Boston runners should be eating by 6:00–6:30 am at the latest.
Eating too close to the start (ex within 90 minutes) can leave food sitting in your gut, making you feel too full and nauseous. Eating too early, without any follow-up fueling at the village, can impact your blood sugar levels, causing you to feel empty by mile 10.
Your Wave-by-Wave Schedule
- Wave 1 (10:00 am start), Wave 2 (10:15 am start), Wave 3 (10:28am start)
- Waves 4-6 (10:41 am, 11:01, 11:21am start)
What To Eat For Your Pre Race Meal
Your morning meal should be high in carbohydrates, low in fat and fiber, and built around foods you have tested before long training runs. Race morning is not the time to experiment.
Recommended foods
- Oatmeal with banana, a little peanut butter (or almonds) and yogurt
- White rice with hardboiled or scrambled eggs (2)
- Bagel with peanut butter, jam (or honey) and banana
- Pop tart with yogurt
- Applesauce with rice and eggs (2)
Macronutrient targets
Fueling at Athletes’ Village
The two to three hours between arriving at Hopkinton and crossing the start line are easy to mess up. You’re anxious, you are bored, you worry about running out of energy. Stick to a plan.
~8:30–9:30 am: Small snack at least 75 minutes before your race start.
A banana, half a plain bagel, gummies/candy or a single gel (20–30 g carbs). This bridges the gap without overloading your stomach.
~9:00am - Wave start: No more solid food within 75 minutes of race start. Instead, sip 3-5 oz of sports drink (~15-20g carbs) every ~20-30 minutes. Sipping steadily throughout the morning is far better than drinking large amounts at once.
~20-30 min before gun: Optional gel + a few sips water. Stop intentional drinking here to avoid frequent stops to the porto-potty.
Fueling at Athletes’ Village
The two to three hours between arriving at Hopkinton and crossing the start line are easy to mess up. You’re anxious, you are bored, you worry about running out of energy. Stick to a plan.
~8:30–9:30 am: Small snack at least 75 minutes before your race start.
A banana, half a plain bagel, gummies/candy or a single gel (20–30 g carbs). This bridges the gap without overloading your stomach.
~9:00am - Wave start: No more solid food within 75 minutes of race start. Instead, sip 3-5 oz of sports drink (~15-20g carbs) every ~20-30 minutes. Sipping steadily throughout the morning is far better than drinking large amounts at once.
~20-30 min before gun: Optional gel + a few sips water. Stop intentional drinking here to avoid frequent stops to the porto-potty.
Hydration Strategy
April in Hopkinton is typically cool, and you’ll be sitting in outside for hours before the race. Hyponatremia (low blood sodium from over-drinking plain water) is a real risk at Boston due to the long village wait. The goal is pale yellow urine by race time. You do not want to see clear urine (over-hydrated) and not dark (under-hydrated). Note: You may not be able to see your urine color when peeing in a porto-potty so if you are having the urge to pee every hour, you are drinking too much.
Fluid targets
It's recommended to choose a sport drink (at least 250mg sodium) over plain water during the village wait. Sodium helps your body retain fluid and reduces the risk of dilutional hyponatremia on course.
It's recommended to choose a sport drink (at least 250mg sodium) over plain water during the village wait. Sodium helps your body retain fluid and reduces the risk of dilutional hyponatremia on course.
What to Avoid Race Morning
The GI tract shunts blood away from digestion during hard exercise. Heavy, unfamiliar, or poorly timed food is the leading cause of stomach problems on course. Avoid the following on race morning:
- High-fat foods: bacon, sausage, cream, full-fat dairy
- High-fiber foods: beans, bran cereal, raw vegetables and fruits with edible peels, whole seeds
- Spicy or heavily seasoned foods
- New or unfamiliar foods you haven’t tested in training
- Large protein-heavy meals
- Excessive caffeine, especially if you haven’t trained with it
- Large volumes of fluid in the 90 minutes before the gun
Nothing new on race day. Every food, drink, gel, and supplement you plan to use on Monday should have been tested in at least 3 long runs. The best fueling strategy is the one your gut already knows.
Have a great race! Enjoy every mile.