London Marathon 2027 fueling guide: water bottles, Lucozade, gels, and a plan for every finish time

London is the major where the water comes in bottles, the crowd never stops, and the course does something strange in the middle: it disappears into Canary Wharf for five miles of narrow streets and dead GPS. Fueling here is less about finding fluid, which is everywhere, and more about keeping to the clock when the noise on Tower Bridge and the tunnel of Docklands make it easy to forget.

The 2027 race is unusual: for one year only it runs over two days, Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25, with the same route on both days and each runner allocated one day. Ballot places were drawn for a fixed day, and in September the organizer confirmed that elite men and male Championship and Good for Age runners race on Saturday and the women in those groups on Sunday, with mixed mass fields on both days. Wave times and the 2027 participant guide will follow closer to race day. This guide uses the current course page and the 2026 event guide for the station layout and shows when you will reach each station at your own pace, then gives three plans: for runners racing it, for the steady middle of the field, and for the long-day runners who will use the generous cut-off.

London Marathon 2027: what is confirmed and what to verify

The two-day format changes two things for fueling. The Saturday field is likely to start at 9:00 and its finish closes at 5:30 p.m., so Saturday runners have at most 7 hours 45 minutes, less than London’s usual eight hours; the Sunday field is likely to start at 9:30 and can finish into the evening. Plan breakfast for your own day’s start and adjust when your wave time arrives.

What is on the London Marathon course

Bottled water is the quiet advantage of London. A bottle travels with you, so you can take a gel at mile 10 with water from the mile 9 bottle instead of lining the gel up with a table. It also means you can drink slowly over half a mile rather than gulping in three seconds and wearing the rest. Take one, drink what you need, and drop it in the bins at the end of the station.

Lucozade Sport contains carbohydrate and some sodium, so it counts as fuel, but only as much as you actually swallow, and it comes in cups. A cup poured at speed is rarely more than 100 to 150 ml, so count a full cup as about 6 to 9 g and a sip as nothing. The Lucozade Sport gel is a specific product; buy a few in advance and use them in long runs before you rely on the ones at miles 13 and 19.

When you will reach each station at your pace

Elapsed times at an even pace. The two gel points fall just after halfway and at about three quarters, which is a reasonable skeleton for the second half but leaves the first 90 minutes to carried fuel for every runner.

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 trial up to 90 g per hour for events over two and a half hours. Intakes above 60 g only absorb well with glucose-plus-fructose products and a gut trained for them. London’s bottled water makes the high targets easier to execute than at cup-only races because every gel can be washed down when you choose.

Racing it: London is flat enough for a full 90 g per hour plan and the bottles make it practical. Ninety grams for three hours is 270 g: two course gels give about 60 g, a 500 ml soft flask of your own mix refilled at the mile 10 and 17 refill points gives 60 to 80 g twice, and the rest is four or five carried gels. Take the first gel at 20 minutes on the downhill out of Blackheath, then by the watch every 20 to 25 minutes. In Canary Wharf, where GPS distance drifts, the watch clock still works; do not let a wrong split move a gel.

Steady marathon: aim for 60 to 75 g per hour and let the course carry some of it. Two course gels are about 60 g; a rehearsed Lucozade cup at 15 and 21 is about 6 to 9 g each if you drink it all. For a four-hour race at 60 g per hour that leaves about 160 g, or six carried gels. Put grams beside every item and total each hour. Carry a bottle from one station to the next and take gels between stations; the Tower Bridge crowd at mile 12 to 13 is not the place to try to open a packet.

Long day: London’s cut-off is generous on the Sunday, and a 6:30 finisher who started in the last wave is on the Embankment at 6:00 p.m. Total intake matters more than the hourly number: 45 g per hour over six and a half hours is nearly 300 g, more than any racer takes. Use small, frequent doses: half a gel every 15 to 20 minutes, a chew when a gel feels like too much, and Lucozade sips at the stations you choose. Carry a bottle so you never have to gulp. Add sodium in the afternoon and keep the last carbohydrate at mile 24; Birdcage Walk and The Mall should be run on fuel that is already in.

Caffeine, sodium, and the bottle etiquette

• Caffeine: the ISSN position stand supports 3 to 6 mg per kg about 60 minutes before exercise; 3 mg per kg is 210 mg for a 70 kg runner. The course page does not list caffeine for the Lucozade Sport gels, so plan any caffeine from what you carry and check the gel label. Count it with your breakfast coffee.
• Sodium: Lucozade Sport supplies some; bottled water and gels supply little. Salty sweaters and anyone finishing in a warm afternoon should add a tested salt product, roughly 300 to 600 mg per hour.
• Bottles: take one, drink over the next half mile, and drop it in the bins at the end of the station or carry it to the next; a bottle thrown across the road is a hazard for the runner behind you.
• Refill points at 5, 10, 14, 17, and 20 are for your own bottle; they are not drinks stations, so do not expect cups there.

Hydration for a late-April day that can go either way

Late April at Heathrow averages a high near 15 °C (59 °F) and a low near 6 °C (43 °F), but the marathon has been run at 24 °C and in cold rain. Late waves finish in the warmest hour of the day. World Athletics warns against drinking beyond sweat losses; finishing heavier than you started is a sign of overdrinking. Ten bottle stations do not require ten bottles.

• Test your sweat rate in one cool and one warm long run; London can be either.
• Choose your priority stations now; every second bottle station is a good default.
• Bottle belts and hydration packs are recommended by the organizer; a soft flask plus the refill points is the lightest option.
• The clear kit bag is the only bag accepted at bag drop; keep race fuel on your body from the moment you hand it in.
• Seek help for confusion, severe headache, repeated vomiting, or collapse, whatever the clock says.

Breakfast for a 9:00 or 9:30 start from Blackheath

A familiar carbohydrate-rich meal one to four hours before racing is the standard framework in the World Athletics consensus. With a 9:00 Saturday or 9:30 Sunday start and an allocated arrival time in Blackheath or Greenwich, most runners eat at 5:30 to 6:30, travel on the free trains and DLR, and take a small top-up in the assembly area. Do not turn race morning into a hotel-buffet experiment.

• Three to four hours before your wave: a practised meal such as toast with jam, 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; the assembly areas have water refill points and toilets.
• Ten to fifteen minutes before the gun: an optional gel or sports drink, only if used successfully in training.
• Keep caffeine at the dose and timing you know; race morning is not the day to double it.
• Late mass waves start after 11:00 in a normal year; if your 2027 wave email says late, shift breakfast later rather than adding a third meal.

Course tactics: where London tempts you

• Miles 1 to 3, Blackheath and Woolwich: downhill and crowded as three starts merge. Take the first gel at 20 minutes with water you carried; the first bottle is at mile 3.
• Miles 4 to 9, Charlton and Greenwich: the rhythm section. Bank the mile 6 bottle and your second gel; the Cutty Sark at 6 to 7 is loud, so take the mile 7 Lucozade only if planned.
• Miles 10 to 13, Bermondsey to Tower Bridge: a slight rise before the bridge. Take a gel at mile 11 with the mile 9 bottle, cross the bridge on fuel, and take the mile 13 course gel after it.
• Miles 14 to 20, Canary Wharf: narrow, turning, GPS drift. Fuel by elapsed time; the mile 15 Lucozade and the mile 19 gel are in here, and the mile 17 refill point.
• Miles 21 to 23, The Highway and the Embankment: the long straight home where attention drops. Lucozade at 21 and 23; last gel at 22 or 23 with the mile 22 bottle.
• Miles 24 to 26.2, Parliament Square, Birdcage Walk, The Mall: water at 24 only; the fuel should already be in.

The long-run rehearsal that makes the plan real

Use at least two long runs as full simulations. Start at 9:00, eat the same breakfast, carry the same products, and practise the two things London asks for: taking a gel from a carried bottle between stations, and holding the clock when your watch distance is wrong. One rehearsal proves the plan is executable; the second tests it at goal pace under fatigue. Record fullness, nausea, thirst, and energy in plain words.

The second rehearsal is where you simplify. If seven gels are awkward, carry a soft flask of concentrated mix and use the refill points. If Lucozade plus a gel feels too sweet, take the gel with bottled water and skip the cups. If a 25-minute alert creates stress, anchor gels to the bottle stations at 6, 12, 18, and 22 and the course gels at 13 and 19. The plan you can run at mile 22 on The Highway is the right one.

Race-week London checklist

• Read the 2027 participant guide when published; confirm your day, your wave time, and the drinks station miles against this guide.
• Confirm your assembly area and allocated arrival time, then work breakfast and travel backward from them.
• Lay out every carried gel, add one backup, and write grams and timing on one card.
• Buy and test the Lucozade Sport gel before race week if it is in your plan.
• Check the forecast 48 hours out for heat; adjust bottles and sodium, not the whole fueling system.
• Do not buy an unfamiliar gel at the Running Show because the flavour sounds better.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and update notes

1. 1TCS London Marathon: The courseLondon Marathon EventsAccessed October 2, 2026; water, refill, Lucozade Sport, and gel station miles; course description
2. 22027 TCS London Marathon double: FAQsLondon Marathon EventsAccessed October 2, 2026; two-day format, 100,000 runners, likely start times, finish closing times, 7 hours 45 minutes on Saturday
3. 3Elite race dates confirmed for historic 2027 Double TCS London MarathonLondon Marathon EventsSeptember 2026; elite, Championship, and Good for Age races split by sex across the two days; mixed mass fields
4. 42026 TCS London Marathon Participant Event GuideLondon Marathon Events2026 wave times, assembly areas, kit bag rules, finish provisions; verify against the 2027 guide
5. 5Nutrition for Athletics: 2019 IAAF Consensus StatementWorld AthleticsCarbohydrate ranges, pre-race meal, and hydration guidance
6. 6A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During ExerciseSports Medicine (Jeukendrup, 2014)Multiple transportable carbohydrates and intakes above 60 g per hour
7. 7London Marathon weather and recordsMet OfficeHottest and coldest race-day records
8. 8Heathrow climate averages 1991 to 2020Met OfficeApril temperature averages