Florence Marathon 2026 fueling guide: aid stations, gels, and a plan for every finish time

Florence is one of the most beautiful marathons in Europe, and it is also one of the easiest to under-fuel. The stations are simple and regular, every 5 km, but they serve water, tea, and a salts drink, with bars and fruit later on. There is no gel on the official list. A runner who expects to pick up fuel on the road, the way they would at a big-city major, can reach 30 km with very little carbohydrate in the tank.

This guide works for every runner in the field, from a sub-3 racer in the red gate to a first-timer in fuchsia. It starts with what the organizer has published for 2026, shows when you will reach each station at your pace, and gives three plans to choose from. Read the final race information again in race week; station details can change.

Florence Marathon 2026: the confirmed race facts

Everyone starts at 8:30, but the gates sit in different streets around the Duomo, so runners at the back may take several minutes to reach the line. The regulations do not say whether the cut-offs are measured from the gun or from your own start, so the safe choice is to plan as if they are gun times. Write every fuel time in your plan against 8:30 plus the minutes you expect to need to cross the line.

What is on the Florence Marathon course

The organizer does not say how much carbohydrate the salts drink contains, so count it as fluid and salt, not fuel, unless the final race guide says more. Tea can be warm or sweetened on a cold day, but do not count on either. Fruit and bars arrive from 15 km and help the long-day runner, but chewing a bar at marathon pace is hard and few racers can do it. The simple rule for Florence: every gram of carbohydrate you plan to count, you carry.

The good news is that the stations are evenly spaced, so they are easy to plan around. One station every 5 km means one every 21 minutes for a 3:00 runner and one every 36 minutes for a 6:00 runner. Line your gels up with those stations and you will always have water within a few minutes.

When you will reach each station at your pace

Elapsed times at an even pace. Two rows are cut-off points, not stations: halfway at 3:00 and 30 km at 4:15. Look at the 6:00 column: an even six-hour pace reaches 30 km at 4:16, one minute too late. If you are aiming near the limit, you need to run the first half a little faster than the second or keep walking breaks short and planned.

Pick your plan: three runner profiles

World Athletics’ consensus statement gives 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour as the common marathon range and suggests trained runners try up to 90 g per hour for events over two and a half hours. Research on multiple transportable carbohydrates shows intakes above 60 g per hour only absorb well with glucose plus fructose products and a trained gut. In Florence you carry almost all of it, so the profile you pick decides how much you need to carry.

Racing it: ninety grams per hour for three hours is 270 g, and none of it comes from the course. That is nine 30 g gels, or five gels plus a 500 ml soft flask holding about 120 g of a mix you have trained with. A belt with two flasks and a few gel loops is the most practical setup. Take the first gel 20 minutes in, then every 20 to 25 minutes, with water at each 5 km point. Build to this number over eight to ten weeks of long runs; never try it for the first time on race day.

Steady marathon: aim for 60 to 75 g per hour. For a four-hour race at 65 g per hour that is 260 g, or eight to nine gels. The 5 km rhythm helps here: at 4:00 pace you reach a station every 28 to 29 minutes, so one gel at each station from 5 km to 40 km gives eight gels, and a small extra from your pocket in the middle hours closes the gap. Write the grams on a card. If you plan to use fruit or bar pieces, count them as small top-ups of a few grams, not as a gel.

Long day: the cut-offs shape this plan. You need to reach halfway by 3:00 and 30 km by 4:15, so long walks at stations are the enemy. Eat in small, frequent doses so the stomach stays settled: half a gel or two chews every 15 to 20 minutes, a piece of fruit at 15, 25, and 35 km, a few sips of the salts drink. Forty-five grams per hour over almost six hours is about 260 g, the same total as the racer. Keep moving while you eat; walk ten steps through a station, then run again.

Caffeine, sodium, and the things runners forget

• Caffeine: the ISSN position stand supports 3 to 6 mg per kg taken about 60 minutes before exercise. For a 70 kg runner, 3 mg per kg is 210 mg. Use the low end, rehearse it, and count coffee, pre-race products, and caffeinated gels together.
• Sodium: the salts drink adds some; water, tea, and most gels add little. On a cold day most runners do not need extra salt. Heavy, salty sweaters can add a tested salt product, roughly 300 to 600 mg per hour.
• Cold gels: at 4 °C at the start, gels thicken. Keep them in a pocket close to your body for the first hour.
• Wrappers: tear the top before the station so you can drink with the same hand, and drop the wrapper at the station bins.

Hydration for a cold start and a mild midday

Late November in Florence averages a high near 12 °C (54 °F) and a low near 4 °C (40 °F), with a wet day a little more than one time in four. The 8:30 start is cold, and many runners drink less than they think on a cold day. That is fine. Fluid needs depend on body size, pace, weather, and your sweat rate, and World Athletics warns against drinking beyond sweat losses. Finishing heavier than you started is a sign of overdrinking.

• Test your sweat rate in one cold and one mild long run before race week.
• Choose your stations now; eight stations do not need eight new decisions at 35 km.
• Rain and stone paving in the old centre can make stations slippery; slow down as you reach the tables.
• Seek help for confusion, severe headache, repeated vomiting, or collapse, whatever the clock says.

Breakfast for an 8:30 start

A familiar carbohydrate-rich meal one to four hours before racing is the standard framework in the World Athletics consensus. With one start at 8:30 and gates opening at 7:45, most runners eat at about 5:00 to 5:30 so there is time to digest, walk to the Duomo, and queue for toilets. Italian hotel breakfasts lean sweet, which is useful, but do not try a new pastry on race morning.

• Three to four hours before the start: a practised meal such as bread or rusks with jam, a banana, and a familiar drink, about 1 to 2 g of carbohydrate per kg.
• Sixty to ninety minutes before: a small low-fibre top-up if you know it sits well.
• Ten to fifteen minutes before the gun: an optional gel, only if used successfully in training.
• Keep caffeine at the dose and timing you know; race morning is not the day to double it.
• Wear a throwaway layer in the gate; standing still in the cold burns energy and makes the first kilometres stiff.

Course tactics: where Florence tempts you

• Kilometres 0 to 5, out from the Duomo: crowded and exciting. Take the first gel at about 20 minutes with water at 5 km.
• Kilometres 5 to 15, the long flat stretch through the Cascine park: the easiest part of the course to settle into pace. Fuel by the watch, because there is little to remind you.
• Kilometres 15 to 25: food arrives at the stations. Racers ignore it; long-day runners can take a fruit piece at 15 and 25 km.
• Kilometres 25 to 30: the second cut-off zone. Runners near the limit should already have a few minutes in hand here.
• Kilometres 30 to 40, back toward the centre: narrow streets, turns, and stone paving. Attention drops; a watch alert every 25 to 30 minutes matters more than any one station.
• Kilometres 40 to 42.195: the fuel should already be in. Enjoy the run back to the Duomo.

The long-run rehearsal that makes the plan real

Use at least two long runs as full simulations. Start at 8:30, eat the same breakfast, wear the same belt, and carry every gel the plan needs, because that is exactly what Florence asks of you. One rehearsal proves you can carry and open that many gels; the second tests the plan at goal pace under fatigue. Note fullness, nausea, thirst, and energy in plain words.

The second rehearsal is where you simplify. If nine gels are awkward, use a soft flask for part of the dose. If you cannot chew at pace, drop the fruit from the plan and carry one more gel. If a 25-minute alert creates stress, anchor gels to the 5 km stations and add one in between each hour. The best plan is the one you can follow at 35 km on stone-paved streets, not the one that looks best on paper.

Race-week Florence checklist

• Read the official race page and FAQ again for any change to stations, gates, or cut-offs.
• Confirm your gate colour and how to reach it, and work out breakfast backward from 7:45.
• Count every gel you need, add one backup, and make sure your belt holds them all.
• Write grams and timing on one card; there is no course gel to fall back on.
• Check the forecast 48 hours out for cold and rain; adjust clothing and fluid, not the whole plan.
• Do not buy an unfamiliar gel at the Expo because the flavour sounds better.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and update notes

1. 1Firenze Marathon: Marathon RegulationFirenze MarathonAccessed October 2, 2026; date, 8:30 start from Piazza del Duomo, 6-hour limit, halfway and 30 km cut-offs
2. 2Firenze Marathon: FAQFirenze MarathonRefreshment points every 5 km and contents, sponge points, start gates, gate opening time, toilets, finish provision
3. 3Firenze Marathon: MarathonFirenze MarathonStart and finish locations, pacers, refreshment summary
4. 4Nutrition for Athletics: 2019 IAAF Consensus StatementWorld AthleticsCarbohydrate ranges, pre-race meal, and hydration guidance
5. 5A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During ExerciseSports Medicine (Jeukendrup, 2014), PMID 24791914Multiple transportable carbohydrates and intakes above 60 g per hour
6. 6International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Caffeine and Exercise PerformanceJISSN (2021), PMID 333880793 to 6 mg per kg dosing guidance
7. 7Average Weather in November in FlorenceWeather SparkLate-November temperature and wet-day averages