As we all know the human body can get to around the 32k mark unaided, by that I mean without hydration or fuel. Similar to climbing to Everest base camp before pushing on into the ‘death zone’ where you either need oxygen from a tank or you have limited time. I’m not suggesting after 32k you enter a running death zone (although when the wheels fall off you may feel like it!) but you do enter into a zone where without hydration, as a minimum, and possibly fuel , you are going to ‘bonk’ (as cyclists call it. Basically the mind is willing but the body has had enough and engaged the handbrake)

This is why we taper, carboload and drink until we spend more time in the toilet than out of it pre-marathon so we are as ready as we can be for the final 10k sprint, after the initial 32k warm-up. On our long Sunday runs we regularly run 30k without stopping ,and without drink,  but we do make up for it afterwards with pancakes and decent coffee. This in itself is enough to help up push through those last 5k, normally with a spring in your step. Could we carry on a run another 12k ? Probably not as we are training so not running marathon pace for the full distance, so although we run the distance we’re not running the pace required. This is a big game changer of course.

So how do we make sure we have enough fuel to finish strong ? The answer it seems these days is in the form of carbohydrates on tap in digestible packets, i.e. Gu’s, carboshotz, Chomps, Hammer Gels, caffeine shots , the list is endless. All are designed to give you a quick hit of fuel to get you firing on all cylinders again and propel you the the finish and through the last 10k of a marathon.  These days at all marathons you see camel backs, running belts and shorts full of Gu’s and energy shots, it sometimes looks more like a confectionary store near the back of a marathon pack. There is some justification of course as the runners towards the back of a marathon are spending more time ‘out there‘ so it must make them very hungry. (Maybe this is why a lot of slower runners than start running ultra’s, as I have mentioned before a ready made excuse to eat more.)  I have mentioned my friend Mark on a number of occasions who was famous for his belt of many pockets and also Rhys who I swear had at least 10 Gu’s on his race belt once for a marathon. That’s probably a kilo of extra weight right there, no wonder he needed the extra fuel. !

Lead runners of course survive on just water and maybe the odd electrolyte drink strategically  placed on the course. They have their hydration and nutrition plan worked out before and will have also trained using said plan. The normal runner goes for the scatter gun approach and if offered drink or food will normally grab it with both hands towards the end of a marathon.

I have friends who survive on just water and run great times. My friend Michael Ho is now running sub 2:35 marathon times just on water and the T-train is another who considers ‘eating is cheating‘ and relies on water only. Myself I’m a Gu before the start, as well as a banana, and then a GU every 10k. If they’re free on the course I’ll take them when offered as I have a strong stomach and I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Do they make a difference ? I think so but maybe more of a placebo. A bit like all these vitamin tablets I take religiously but deep down wonder if they aren’t just a massive con.? Hard to say but I’ll go with the ‘everybody else is using them so they must work‘ approach.  (very similar to smoking in the seventies I suppose? That’s not going to help is it…)

So my advice is to probably go for the extra help a Gu may provide as assuming you can stomach them they won’t do any harm. One every 45-60 minutes is normally the recommended dosage but anything is better than nothing so experiment in training. Somewhere between the T-train and Rhys is a happy medium.

Last thing about Gu’s, or any nutrition, that needs to be carried is the method of transport. In 2012 I lost the Melbourne Marathon after setting off a sub 2hour pace I was comfortably in the lead at 200m, looking forward to being the first man to break the 2 hour marathon mark. Unfortunately I was overtaken by the eventual winner as I was checking my Gu’s which I had pinned to my shorts. (Thanks for the idea coach Dan ‘the man with a plan’ Macey!) Anyway as you can clearly see from the photograph below the winner took advantage of my mistake and I never recovered. I ran a 2:43, which although a PB, was 44 minutes slower than planned. So there’s a lesson there, if you think you can run sub 2 hours for the marathon hand carry your Gu’s, it is a mistake I will take to the grave.