Lisbon Half Marathon 2027 fueling guide: aid stations, gels, and a plan for every finish time

Few half marathons start like Lisbon. You stand on the deck of the 25 de Abril Bridge, high over the Tagus, and the first kilometres take you down into the city. After that the course is flat and fast along the river. That makes it a race where small fueling mistakes show up on the clock. The downhill start tempts you to run too fast, the stations come at uneven gaps, and the last 7 km run away from the finish before they turn back to it.

This guide is for every runner in the field, from a 1:20 racer to a first half marathon close to three hours. It starts with what the organizer has confirmed for 2027, adds last year’s station list where the 2027 version is not out yet, shows when you will reach each station at your own pace, and gives three plans to choose from. Check the official runner’s guide again in race week; station details can change.

Lisbon Half Marathon 2027: the confirmed race facts

Two details shape your fueling. First, the start is only reachable by train, and the walk from Pragal station to the start takes 10 to 15 minutes, so you leave home or the hotel well before 9:30. Second, there is no gear check at the start. Whatever you want to eat between breakfast and the gun, and every gel for the race, has to travel with you. Clothes left at the start are collected and donated, so an old top is a good way to stay warm on the bridge.

What is on the Lisbon Half Marathon course

The 2027 FAQ confirms the products but not the kilometres. The table below uses last year’s official runner’s guide, which is the best guide until the 2027 version comes out.

The guide asks runners to drop water bottles in the bins after each station, so expect bottles rather than cups. A bottle travels with you, which means you do not have to line up a gel with a station. Take a bottle at 5 km, carry it, and use it for a gel a few minutes later.

There is only one gel point and one Powerade point. If you want to use the 226ERS gel at 10 km, buy a few beforehand and test them in a long run, so the first time you taste one is not at race pace. Powerade at 13 km is the only sports drink on the course, and the amount you can drink on the move is small. Count it as a top-up, not a full serving.

When you will reach each station at your pace

Elapsed times at an even pace, using last year’s stations. The table shows why one plan does not fit everyone: the 1:30 runner meets the gel point at about 43 minutes, while the 3:00 runner meets it at about 1:25. The downhill start will make the first two stations come a little sooner than this for most runners.

The three-hour limit counts from the gun, not from when you cross the line, and the roads reopen at 12:30. If you start in the last wave and expect to need close to three hours, you have less time than the number suggests. Plan your pace so you have a margin.

Pick your plan: three runner profiles

World Athletics’ consensus statement suggests 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour for events of about one to two and a half hours, and more only for longer races or runners who have trained for it. Research on multiple transportable carbohydrates shows intakes above 60 g per hour only absorb well with glucose plus fructose products and a trained gut. A half marathon is short enough that many runners do well at the lower end. These three profiles let you pick honestly.

Racing it: at 1:25, 85 g per hour is about 120 g in total. That is four 30 g gels, or three of your own plus the course gel. Take the first one 10 to 15 minutes before the start; with the long walk and the wait on the bridge, breakfast is far behind you by then. Take the next at about 20 minutes with the bottle from 5 km, the course gel at 10 km, and the last one around 60 to 65 minutes with water at 15 km. A gel after 70 minutes at this pace has little time to help. Nobody should try 90 g per hour for the first time in Lisbon. Build it in long runs and race-pace sessions over several weeks.

Steady half: aim for 60 to 75 g per hour. For a 1:50 finish at 65 g per hour that is about 120 g: two or three carried gels, the course gel at 10 km, and a few mouthfuls of Powerade at 13 km. Take your first gel at about 25 minutes with the bottle from 5 km, the course gel at about 50 minutes, and a last carried gel around 75 to 80 minutes with water at 15 km. Write the grams next to each item. It is the easiest way to see if a plan is too light or too heavy before race day.

Long day: close to three hours on your feet still needs fuel. Fifty grams per hour over 2:45 is about 140 g, more than many fast runners take. Small, frequent doses are kinder to the stomach: half a gel or two chews every 15 to 20 minutes, water at every station, and the Powerade at 13 km if you know it suits you. After 18 km there is no more water on the course, so finish your last carbohydrate by then.

Caffeine, sodium, and the things runners forget

• Caffeine: the ISSN position stand supports 3 to 6 mg per kg 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: plain water and most gels give you little, and Powerade is only at one station. In a cool March race most runners do not need extra salt, but heavy, salty sweaters can add a salt product they have tested.
• The course gel: 226ERS is the brand. Check whether the gel you are handed has caffeine before you take it, and only take caffeine you have planned.
• Pockets: with no bag drop, plan where every gel lives. A belt or shorts with pockets beats holding gels in your hand for an hour.

Hydration for a cool morning by the river

Early March in Lisbon averages a high near 17 °C (62 °F) and a low near 9 °C (49 °F), with a wet day about one time in six. A 9:30 start means most runners finish before the warmest part of the day. The bridge and the riverside are open, so wind can make it feel colder at the start and warmer once the sun comes out. World Athletics warns against drinking beyond sweat losses; finishing heavier than you started is a sign of overdrinking.

• Test your sweat rate in one cool and one mild run before race week.
• Choose your stations now; six stations do not need six decisions at race pace.
• Carry a bottle for a kilometre instead of gulping in place.
• Seek help for confusion, severe headache, repeated vomiting, or collapse, whatever the clock says.

Breakfast for a 9:30 start on the bridge

A familiar carbohydrate-rich meal one to four hours before racing is the standard framework in the World Athletics consensus. In Lisbon the train sets the timing. Each bib shows a recommended train for your wave, and you then walk 10 to 15 minutes from Pragal and wait in your wave. Work backward from that train, not from 9:30.

• Three hours before the start, or about one hour before your train: a practised meal such as toast with jam, a bagel, rice cakes, or a banana, about 1 to 2 g of carbohydrate per kg.
• On the train or at Pragal: a small, low-fibre top-up you have tested, such as a banana or a cereal bar, if breakfast was early.
• Ten to fifteen minutes before the gun: a gel, if you have used it in training. The first water is not until 5 km.
• Keep caffeine at the dose and timing you know; race morning is not the day to double it.
• Carry everything: there is no bag drop, and toilets are spread between Pragal and the start, so use one early.

Course tactics: where Lisbon tempts you

• Kilometres 0 to 2.5, the 25 de Abril Bridge: a gentle climb for about a kilometre, then a long drop into Alcântara. Do not race the downhill. Your pre-start gel is doing the work here.
• Kilometres 3 to 6, the loop around Alcântara: water at 5 km. Take a bottle and carry it for your next gel.
• Kilometres 6 to 10, down to the river and east toward Cais do Sodré and back: the course is flat from here. Water at 7 km, then the gel point at 10 km near the Alcântara docks.
• Kilometres 11 to 17, west along the river past Belém to Cruz Quebrada: the long, flat middle. Powerade at 13 km. Between 13 and 14 km you pass close to the finish and keep going; this is where a planned gel stops the mind from wandering.
• Kilometres 17 to 21, back from Cruz Quebrada to the Jerónimos Monastery: water at 18 km and then nothing until the finish. The fuel should already be in.

The long-run rehearsal that makes the plan real

Use at least two key sessions as full rehearsals. One is a long run at the time of day you will race, with the same breakfast, the same early wake-up, and the same gels. The other is a session with 10 to 14 km at goal pace, taking gels at the minutes you plan to use in Lisbon. If you can, start that session with a downhill, so you learn what goal pace feels like when gravity is helping.

The second rehearsal is where you simplify. If four gels feel like too many at 1:25 pace, use three bigger ones. If Powerade plus a gel feels too sweet, take gels with water only. If you struggle to open gels at speed, tear the tops before each station. The best plan is the one you can follow at 16 km on the way out to Cruz Quebrada, with the finish behind you.

Race-week Lisbon Half checklist

• Read the 2027 runner’s guide as soon as it is published and confirm the station kilometres and the gel point.
• Check the recommended train on your bib and work out breakfast backward from it.
• Buy and test the 226ERS gel if it is part of your plan.
• Lay out every carried gel, add one backup, and write grams and timing on one card.
• Bring an old top for the bridge; it will be collected and donated.
• Check the forecast 48 hours out for wind and rain; adjust fluid and clothing, not the whole fueling plan.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and update notes

1. 1EDP Meia Maratona de Lisboa 2027Maratona Clube de PortugalAccessed October 2, 2026; date, 9:30 start on the 25 de Abril Bridge, three-hour limit, Fertagus access to Pragal, no bag drop
2. 2Regulamento EDP Meia Maratona de Lisboa 2027Maratona Clube de PortugalStart and finish, time limit until 12:30, elite start at Cruz Quebrada, pacers, aid stations about every 5 km
3. 3FAQs: EDP Lisbon Half MarathonMaratona Clube de PortugalVitalis water, 226ERS gel, Powerade, own supplies allowed, finish provision, course description
4. 4EDP Lisbon Half Marathon Runner’s Guide (last edition)Maratona Clube de PortugalLast edition’s station kilometres and contents, elevation profile, start area, walk from Pragal; the 2027 guide is not yet published
5. 5Nutrition for Athletics: 2019 IAAF Consensus StatementWorld AthleticsCarbohydrate ranges by event length, pre-race meal, and hydration guidance
6. 6A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During ExerciseSports Medicine (Jeukendrup, 2014), PMID 24791914Multiple transportable carbohydrates and intakes above 60 g per hour
7. 7International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Caffeine and Exercise PerformanceJISSN (2021), PMID 333880793 to 6 mg per kg dosing guidance
8. 8Average Weather in March in LisbonWeather SparkEarly-March temperature and wet-day averages