Research
Macro partitioning
For events lasting longer than 90 minutes, consuming 30-90 g/hour of carbohydrates during the event improves performance by maintaining exogenous fuel supply as endogenous stores dwindle.
For races longer than 90 minutes, consume 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. For races longer than 2 hours, aim for up to 90 grams per hour using a mix of carbohydrate sources (e.g., glucose and fructose). Practice this during training to avoid stomach issues.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Contemporary evidence regarding events of over 90 min in duration indicates that within-race CHO becomes more important in supplying substrate to the muscle and brain as endogenous supplies dwindle; indeed, with races of >2 hr, higher CHO intakes (e.g., up to 90 g/hr from mixed CHO sources) are often associated with larger performance benefits.
Why this rating
Consensus statement based on contemporary evidence.
Source
International Association of Athletics Federations Consensus Statement 2019: Nutrition for Athletics
Louise M. Burke et al. · International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism · 2019
DOI 10.1123/ijsnem.2019-0065
clinical_guidelineCited 234×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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