What to Eat for Breakfast Before a Marathon to Stay Strong Through the Finish

You’ve done the training, tested out your race-day outfit, and devised a strategic pacing plan that you swear you’ll stick to. Now there’s just one major piece of marathon prep left: your pre-race breakfast. 

It takes a lot of fuel to get you through 26.2 miles, and your morning meal on race day is an important opportunity to stock up on the nutrients that will help power you to the finish line. “Half of running that marathon is the nutrition piece,” says Emily Moore, RD, a dietitian who specializes in nutrition for runners. “And that is often what runners struggle with the most.” 

Having the right breakfast before a marathon can make the difference between nabbing a new personal record and hitting the wall at mile 18. But what’s the best thing to eat on the morning of the big day? Well, that depends on a few factors. Here’s what dietitians want you to know about the most important meal of race season. 

Why Eating Breakfast Before a Marathon Is Important

The main reason you want to eat a hearty breakfast on race morning is to give your body the carbs it needs to get through 26.2 miles. “A limiting factor in marathons can be how much carbohydrate storage you have in your muscles and your liver to keep you going,” says registered sports dietitian Sandra Kilmartin, RD. Remember: Carbs are our bodies’ preferred energy source since they’re quickly absorbed and put to use. 

Even if you’ve followed a careful carb load in the days leading up to the race and ate a pasta dinner the night before, you’ll still want to top-up your stores with some more for breakfast. “When you sleep overnight, you go through some of those carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar in a good range,” Kilmartin explains. “So when you wake up, you have to eat some carbs to rebuild that storage.”

That said, you don’t necessarily want to eat just carbs. A little protein and a tiny bit of fat can keep you from feeling hungry mid-race, Kilmartin says. They can also help to stabilize your blood sugar so you don’t set yourself up for an energy crash a few miles in. “It creates a whole, balanced meal rather than having just carbohydrates,” she adds. 

What to Eat for Breakfast Before a Marathon

Kilmartin says there are three general principles for a good marathon breakfast: It should be high in carbs, low-to-moderate in protein, and low in both fat and fiber. 

More specifically, experts recommend aiming for 1–4 grams of carbs per kilogram of body weight. (Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to convert it to kilograms.) That means a 150-pound runner would aim for about 70–275 grams of carbs at breakfast. 

When it comes to protein and fat, however, it’s pretty individual—some runners can handle a bit extra, while others find more than a few grams will hurt their performance. This is something you can only find out for yourself through trial and error while training. “I can’t stress practicing beforehand enough,” Kilmartin says. 

With this in mind, here are a few expert-recommended ideas for breakfast before a marathon: 

1. Bagel and Peanut Butter

Bagels are a smart way to pack in a hefty dose of carbs—a little over 50 grams, on average. Moore recommends topping one with peanut butter (if your system can handle the fat), banana slices, and honey for bonus carbs and a touch of protein. Don’t like peanut butter? Stick with cream cheese, and just eat that banana and honey on the side. 

2. English Muffin with Jam and Orange Juice

If you don’t have enough of an appetite to manage a dense bagel, Kilmartin says another good option is an English muffin or toast with some jam. “And if you really can’t get in enough from solids, get some liquid carbs in there,” she says. Meaning: Have a cup of juice or a sports drink on the side.

3. Waffles with Bananas and Maple Syrup

Not a bagel or bread person? Moore suggests waffles. Top them off with bananas and maple syrup to increase the carb count. You can also add a dollop of peanut butter or have some yogurt on the side for protein.

If you’re gluten intolerant, swap in a gluten-free waffle as your base. If you’re looking for inspiration, Moore recommends Vans Gluten-Free Waffles.) 

4. Oatmeal and a Hard-Boiled Egg

Kilmartin says oatmeal is another popular choice for breakfast before a marathon. Just stick with the instant variety to minimize the fiber. You can stir in some brown sugar or syrup for additional carbs, and add a hard-boiled egg for a bit of protein.  

5. Smoothie

If your nerves are high and appetite is low, Kilmartin suggests making a smoothie. Use lower-fiber fruits like ripe bananas, papayas, canned peaches, and applesauce, then add juice, plus some honey or maple syrup. Add a bit of yogurt for some protein.  

How Long Before a Marathon Should You Eat Breakfast?

Scarfing down your meal minutes before strolling up to the start line won’t set you up for success. Kilmartin says you ideally want at least three to four hours to digest, though of course, that’s tough to do if your race starts at, say, 7 AM. Some runners will wake up to eat then go back to sleep for an hour or two, but that can be tricky to pull off unless you’re a particularly heavy sleeper.

If you’ve only realistically got one or two hours to spare, you’ll want to adjust your meal a bit. “The closer you get to your start time, you really want to pull back and be careful of fiber, protein, and fat intake because those slow digestion,” Moore says. “If we’re consuming those too close to exercise, we can run into porta-potty stops, nausea, that sort of thing during the race.” Kilmartin also suggests aiming for closer to 1–2 grams of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight rather than 4 grams, which could be too much for your body to digest fully at that point. 

Either way, consider snacking on some carbs just before you cross the start line. Think: a gel, ripe banana, or even some gummy bears. “Something really easily digestible,” Kilmartin says. This will give you one last refill before it’s go-time.  

Are There Any Foods to Consider Avoiding Before a Marathon?

What you eat for breakfast before a marathon is an important decision—but what you don’t eat is equally crucial. On race day morning, steer clear of these foods that can leave you with an unfortunate case of runner’s stomach:

Other Pre-Marathon Breakfast Tips

Even if you’ve already figured out exactly what you want to eat for breakfast before your marathon, here are a few other helpful things to keep in mind. 

Practice Regularly

Although it might seem a bit over-the-top, Moore tells her clients to start thinking about what they’ll eat for their pre-marathon breakfast as soon as they start training. That way, you can approach every long training run as a chance to learn which foods work best for you and how long they take to digest. Keep experimenting until you find something that sits well in your stomach and gives you the energy you need. “Then race day comes, and there’s no guessing,” she says. 

For Destination Races, Consider Packing Breakfast

If you know that a bagel is your best long-run fuel, but your race is in a foreign country where bagels might not be easy to find, you could pack one in your suitcase to have on race day morning. Otherwise, do your research ahead of time to find out what kinds of foods will be available wherever you’re racing, then try those at home to see how your body responds.

Don’t Forget About Hydration

Of course, food is only one part of the equation. “Hydration is something that you want to be really intentional with,” Morris says. That’s because dehydration can increase our heart rate, cause cramping and digestive issues, and make running feel harder. 

Kilmartin says runners generally want to get in about 5–10 milliliters of fluids per kilogram of bodyweight in the two to four hours before a marathon, which works out to about 2 or 3 cups for a 150-pound runner. But pay attention to your urine. “If it’s pretty dark and concentrated, you might want to repeat that amount,” Kilmartin says. A pale hue, on the other hand, hints that you’re properly hydrated.

What’s best to drink? For starters, water is always a great choice. But beyond H2O, Moore suggests having an electrolyte drink with your pre-marathon breakfast. This can optimize your hydration because electrolytes help maintain fluid balance in our cells. Plus, many electrolyte mixes also add to your carb count.

If your system can handle it, a cup of coffee can also be a helpful breakfast companion. Research has consistently shown that caffeine can improve athletic performance. Moore just warns that coffee shouldn’t be your only source of hydration—have some water and/or electrolytes alongside your latte.  

Another good idea: If you’re running an especially hot or humid race, turn your pre-race fluid into an ice slushy, Kilmartin suggests. That could look like crushed ice or even an electrolyte drink slurpie. Scientists have found that this strategy could help bring down your temperature and improve your race performance. 

Be Flexible

If your pre-marathon breakfast doesn’t go to plan and you aren’t able to get in as many carbs as you wanted beforehand, you might start fueling mid-race a little earlier, Kilmartin says. Since your energy stores won’t be as high, this can help you get the fuel you need before your tank runs low.

The Takeaway

Although we all want to stock up on a hefty dose of carbs on race morning, what that actually looks like can vary quite a bit. Runners’ stomachs can be finicky (especially when you add nerves into the equation), and while some can comfortably put down a breakfast burrito, others only run well with plain toast. 

So don’t just have whatever pre-marathon breakfast your training partner swears by. Be a little high maintenance: Try all sorts of meal ideas before your long runs to find out what fuels you best, then do whatever you need to replicate that on race day morning—no matter what anyone else is eating. You’ll be glad you did when you cross that finish line still feeling strong.