Best Energy Gels for the Aussie Marathoner

Ultimately, understanding how a gel works helps you choose the right one for you. It’s not about marketing hype; it’s about giving your body the right type of fuel, at the right time, to keep you running strong from the start line all the way to the finish.

Building Your Marathon Fuelling Plan

Take too few gels and you will run out of road before you run out of course. Take too many and you will be looking for a portaloo at 28km.

Here is a plan you can test on your next long run.

How Much Fuel Do You Actually Need?

Current guidance for marathon runners sits at 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Well-trained athletes on high-carb protocols push towards 120g. The old 30 to 60g figure still circulating online reflects research from before multiple-transportable carbohydrate blends were common.

Most gels carry 19g to 30g. At 60 to 90g per hour, that means two to four gels per hour depending on the brand.

Your own number depends on:

• Your Pace: Faster running burns more carbohydrate per hour. A 3:00 marathoner needs more per hour than a 4:30 marathoner, and needs it for less time.
• Your Body Weight: AA 90kg runner burns more than a 60kg runner at the same relative effort.
• Race Duration: A four-hour marathon needs more total carbohydrate than a three-hour one, even at a lower hourly rate.

A four-hour marathoner fuelling at 60g per hour needs around 240g total. That works out to roughly eight 30g gels, ten 25g gels, or twelve 19g gels. Faster runners taking a gel every 20 minutes will hit 5km intervals at 4:00 pace, closer to 7km intervals at 5:40 pace, so set your watch to time rather than distance.

Test the number on your long runs. Gut tolerance is trainable, and most runners who report GI trouble have never practised at race intake.

Creating Your Starting Plan

Start simple, then adjust based on how your long runs go.

1. One gel about 15 minutes before the start. Your glycogen stores were set by your carb loading over the previous two to three days. What a pre-race gel does is lift circulating blood glucose so you are not drawing down on stores from the first kilometre.
2. Next gel at 30 to 45 minutes. Fuel ahead of fatigue rather than chasing it.
3. Then every 30 to 45 minutes. Set a recurring alert on your watch.
4. Carry one spare. Gels get dropped, and aid station supplies run out.

A schedule you have rehearsed removes the guesswork so you can spend your attention on pacing.

Practice Makes Perfect

Nothing new on race day applies to nutrition more than to anything else. Every long run is a dress rehearsal.

Use them to work out:

• Flavour tolerance. A flavour you enjoy at 5km can turn your stomach by 35km. Carry two.
• Gut response. Practice at your target hourly intake, not below it. Your gut adapts.
• Logistics. Can you open the sachet at pace? Where does it sit in your shorts or belt?

Using Gels with Electrolytes in australian conditions

Australian racing is less about heat than most people assume. The Gold Coast Marathon runs on the first weekend of July in 9°C to 22°C with low humidity, which is why 60% of the field sets a personal best there. Sydney in late August is mild. Melbourne in October is cool.

Where Australian runners actually meet heat is in training. December to February long runs, and humid races like the run leg of Ironman Cairns or Noosa Triathlon in November. That is where sodium matters.

When you sweat you lose water and you lose sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride. Those minerals carry the electrical signals your muscles and nerves run on.

Why You Need to Replace What You Sweat Out

A calf or hamstring cramp late in a race is often the first obvious sign your sodium balance has gone. The subtler signs come earlier: headache, light-headedness, a flat feeling you cannot explain from your pace.

Sweat sodium concentration varies enormously between individuals, from around 200mg to over 2,000mg per litre. If you finish a run with white salt marks on your cap, you are at the high end and standard gels will not keep up.

Sodium content across gels ranges from 10mg to 200mg per sachet. That is a twenty-fold difference, and the number is rarely on the front of the packet.

Building Electrolyte Gels into Your Plan

You do not need to replace every gel with an electrolyte version. Alternate instead.

• Humid conditions. Swap one gel per hour for an electrolyte version.
• Heavy sweaters. Alternate every second gel, or pair standard gels with an electrolyte drink.
• Early signs. Twinges of cramp or light-headedness mean take the next one now.

Once you are cramping, you cannot fix it on the run. Plan the sodium in from the start.

For how electrolyte drinks fit alongside gels, see our guide to electrolyte drinks.

Finding the Right Electrolyte Gel

Compare the sodium figure per sachet rather than the word “electrolyte” on the front.

SiS GO Energy + Electrolyte carries 22g of carbohydrate with 118mg sodium, 9.5mg potassium and 1.5mg magnesium. UCAN EDGE + Electrolyte carries 19g of carbohydrate with 200mg sodium, 90mg potassium, 75mg chloride, 20mg magnesium and 12mg calcium. Maurten Gel 100 carries 25g of carbohydrate with 20mg sodium, which means you will need a separate source of sodium alongside it.

None of these replaces a full litre of sweat. Pair whichever you choose with an electrolyte drink if you are out for more than two hours in humidity.

The Mental Advantage of a Solid Gel Strategy

At 35km your head wants to stop well before your legs do.

A rehearsed fuelling plan is one fewer thing to negotiate with. You are not wondering whether you are about to fade, because you know what you took and when.

The biggest fear for most marathoners is hitting the wall, and the fear itself costs you energy. Knowing your gels are in your belt and your watch will beep at 45 minutes takes that away.

Race day is chaos. Crowds, nerves, a start pen that moves twenty minutes late. A fuelling routine you have run twelve times before becomes the one predictable thing in it. Same gels, same flavours, same timing, no surprises from a sachet you picked up at the expo.

Carrying your own gels rather than relying on aid stations also removes a variable. Course nutrition is a brand you may not have trained with, handed to you at a pace you did not choose.

Common Marathon Gel Mistakes to Avoid

Waiting Until It’s Too Late

The most common error. Runners wait until they feel tired, or until the 90-minute mark, before taking a first gel. By then you are behind and you will not catch up.

Start at 30 to 45 minutes and hold the schedule.

Forgetting to Drink Water with Your Gel

A thick, concentrated gel taken dry pulls fluid into your gut to dilute it. That is where the cramping and bloating come from.

Unless you are on an isotonic or pre-diluted gel, take it just before a water station. Two or three good mouthfuls is enough.

Trying Something New on Race Day

The expo is full of new flavours and none of them belong in your race. A gel that suits your training partner can wreck your stomach.

Race day is execution. Do the experimenting in August.

A few more:

1. Flavour fatigue. The berry gel you liked at 10km can be unbearable at 35km. Carry one fruity and one neutral.
2. Storage. Use a belt or shorts with gel loops. Fumbling at 32km costs you more than the ten seconds it looks like.
3. No spare. Carry one more than your plan calls for.

What Is the Difference Between Gels with Caffeine and Without?

Caffeinated gels are your secret weapon for the back half of the marathon. They’re designed to give you an extra mental kick when things get really tough. That hit of caffeine can help reduce your perception of effort, which makes grinding out those final, brutal kilometres feel just a little bit more manageable.

However, caffeine isn’t for everyone and can cause jitters or stomach issues if you’re not used to it. It’s best to use them strategically – maybe save one for that final 10km push to the finish line. Your non-caffeinated gels are the dependable workhorses, providing that steady stream of energy throughout the race. As with everything, test any caffeinated options in training first to see how your body handles it.

Where to Buy UCAN Energy Gels in Australia

UCAN EDGE ships from our Melbourne warehouse, so metro orders land in two to three business days on standard and next day on express.

• EDGE (no caffeine), box of 12: $74.90. Pineapple, Strawberry Kiwi, Orange Mango, Unflavoured.
• EDGE + Electrolyte, box of 12: $84.90. Citrus, Cherry, Lemon-Lime, Strawberry Kiwi.
• Mixed Berry EDGE + Caffeine, box of 12: $84.90. 45mg caffeine per sachet.
• Single sachets: $9.90. Test a flavour before committing to a box.
• Free standard shipping on orders over $220.

Buy direct at generationucan.com.au/edge.

UCAN Australia is the official Australian reseller of UCAN. EDGE energy gels are powered by LIVSTEADY, a slow-release corn starch carbohydrate that delivers 19g of carbs and 70 to 80 calories per sachet with no added sugar. Stock is held in Dandenong South, Victoria and ships Australia-wide. Browse the full EDGE range at generationucan.com.au/edge.