Milan Marathon 2027 fueling guide: ristori, the 8:15 start, and a plan for every finish time

The Wizz Air Milano Marathon starts at 08:15 on Sunday, 4 April 2027, and the organizer promises a ristoro, the Italian word for an aid station, every 5 km plus two extra ones. Each has water and sports drink, and from km 20 there is also fruit and biscuits. The organizer does not list any gels. So most of your carbohydrate has to come with you from Corso Sempione. This guide sets out what the organizer has published, when you will reach each ristoro at your pace, and three plans to choose from.

Two things shape fueling in Milan. The course is flat and fast, which tempts runners into a pace their gut has never handled. And the 2027 course and station map are not out yet. The race moved to a new point-to-point route last edition, and the organizer says it is still fine-tuning the course for 2027. So the station list below is based on the last edition’s official route map and rules. Recheck it in race week.

Milan Marathon 2027: the confirmed race facts

The rules give each cut-off as racing time, with an approximate clock time. If you miss one, staff may ask you to board the bus for retired runners, or to carry on along the pavement while the roads reopen. The table shows the 2027 rules.

What is on the Milan Marathon course

The organizer has not published a kilometre list of ristori. The 2027 rules give the pattern: one at every 5 km, two extra, and one at the finish. The last edition’s official route map marked 12 ristori, and the Italian practical information page described the same 12 (8 required plus 4 extra). The kilometres below are read from that map, so treat them as approximate. All of them served water and sports drink. The rules call the drink integratore and do not name a brand or its carbohydrate content.

The official sources do not agree on the count. The 2027 rules and event page say 10 ristori, the Italian practical page described 12 last edition, and the English practical page says 13. Plan as if there are only the 8 at every 5 km, and treat any extra ones as a bonus. The gaps are never longer than about 6 km, so water is never far away. The gap that matters is carbohydrate: there are no gels on the list.

Because the organizer does not publish what is in the sports drink, count it as a small, unknown top-up. A typical sports drink holds about 6 g of carbohydrate per 100 ml, so a cup of 100 to 150 ml would give roughly 6 to 9 g, less what you spill. Fruit and biscuits from km 20 help a little, but they are slow to chew at race pace. Your plan should still work if you only take water from the course.

When you will reach each station at your pace

The table shows elapsed time from your own start at an even pace, using the approximate map kilometres. A 3:00 runner reaches the 20 km ristoro at 1:25. A 6:00 runner reaches it at 2:51 and passes the half-marathon cut-off at 3:00, only 15 minutes inside the limit. Run-walkers aiming for 6:15 or slower should bank a few minutes in the first half, not lose them.

Pick your plan: three runner profiles

World Athletics’ consensus statement gives 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour as the usual marathon range, and its companion paper on distance runners suggests trained runners try up to 90 g per hour in events longer than about two and a half hours. The organizer’s own fueling article gives the same 30 to 60 g, with up to 90 g for well-trained runners. Research on multiple transportable carbohydrates shows that intakes above 60 g per hour are only absorbed well when the product mixes glucose and fructose and the gut has been trained for it. So here are three honest profiles. With 25 g gels, one every 30 minutes gives 50 g per hour, every 25 minutes gives 60 g, and every 20 minutes gives 75 g.

Racing it: your problem is volume. At 75 g per hour from gels alone, a 3:00 race needs nine 25 g gels, and the course gives you none. Sports drink at race pace is often half spilled, so count no more than a few grams per cup. Build your number over eight to ten weeks of long runs, starting at 60 g and adding 10 to 15 g every second week while your stomach stays quiet. Take the first gel at about 20 minutes, around the first ristoro, and the last one near 35 km, before the run back past the Arco della Pace.

Steady marathon: think in grams. A 4:00 race at 60 g per hour is 240 g. If the sports drink is a typical one, a cup at most ristori might add 40 to 60 g after spills, but the organizer does not publish the number, so do not lean on it. That leaves seven to ten carried 25 g gels, or about one every 25 minutes. Use a race belt or shorts with pockets. Write the grams next to each item and total each hour.

Long day: five to six and a half hours on your feet changes the math. Fifty grams per hour over six hours is 300 g. Small, frequent doses work best: a gel every 30 minutes, or half a gel every 15, with a piece of fruit or a biscuit after km 20 when a gel feels like too much. Watch the cut-offs. The 21.1 km cut-off sits at 3:15 of racing and the 27.8 km one at 4:20, both about 9:15 to 9:21 per km. Eating on schedule in the first two hours is what keeps you moving through Parco di Trenno and up Via Lampugnano before 4:20.

Caffeine and sodium on a gel-free course

• 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. With an 08:15 wave, that means around 07:15, while you wait near Corso Sempione.
• Lower doses during the race also work for many runners. If you use caffeinated gels, take them in the second half, for example around 25 and 35 km, and count them toward your total dose.
• The organizer does not list any caffeine on the course. Whatever you plan to use, you carry.
• Sodium: the course menu has no salty items listed. Most runners in cool April weather get enough from sports drink and normal meals. Heavy, salty sweaters should carry the electrolyte product they used in training.
• Fruit and biscuits from km 20 are quick extras, but they will not replace a gel’s worth of carbohydrate unless you take a lot.
• Tear the top of your gel before the ristoro, so you can drink with the same hand.

Hydration for an early-April morning in Milan

In early April, Milan averages a daily high near 16 to 17 °C (61 to 63 °F) and a low near 7 to 8 °C (44 to 46 °F), with about a 25 to 29 percent chance of a wet day and almost no muggy days. The sun rises around 07:00. That makes the start cool and the finish mild for most runners: a 4:00 runner in the first wave crosses the line around 12:15, as the day warms up. The organizer adds sponge stations at the ristori. The ACSM position statement advises drinking enough to avoid losing more than about 2 percent of body mass, and World Athletics warns against drinking more than you sweat; finishing heavier than you started is a sign of overdrinking.

• Test your sweat rate in one cool and one mild long run in February and March.
• Bring a throwaway layer for the start pen. Last edition, the pens opened at 07:00 and the last wave started at 08:45.
• A light rain jacket for the bag drop is worth packing; early April is often showery.
• Use the cups for drinking and the sponges for cooling.
• Medical posts sit about every 4 km, with a main medical post just after the finish. Seek help for confusion, severe headache, repeated vomiting, or collapse, whatever the clock says.

Breakfast for an 8:15 start

A familiar carbohydrate-rich meal one to four hours before racing is the standard framework, and ACSM gives 1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg in that window. An 08:15 start and an early bag drop push breakfast close to 05:30. Last edition, the bag drop in Piazza Castello was open from 06:30 to 08:00, the start pens opened at 07:00, and the pens closed at 07:55 for the 08:15 wave, 08:10 for the 08:30 wave, and 08:25 for the 08:45 wave. Plan from your wave, not the first gun.

• 05:15 to 05:45, about 2.5 to 3 hours before an 08:15 wave: the main breakfast, a practised meal such as white bread or a cornetto with jam, oatmeal with honey, a banana and juice, about 1 to 2 g of carbohydrate per kg. Third-wave runners can eat 30 minutes later.
• 06:15 to 06:45: travel to Piazza Castello for the bag drop, or straight to the start by metro if you have no bag. Last edition, the organizer pointed runners to Cadorna and Lanza for the bag drop, and Domodossola or Gerusalemme (M5) for the start.
• 06:30 to 07:30: sip a sports drink you know, a little at a time.
• Around 07:15: caffeine, at the dose and timing you have practised.
• 07:50 to 08:10: an optional gel in the pen, about 15 minutes before your wave, only if used in training.
• Collect your bib early at the Milano Running Festival, 1 to 3 April. A late Saturday trip across the city eats into your carbohydrate and rest.

Course tactics: where Milan tempts you

The 2027 course has not been published. Last edition’s course was point to point and new in its first 13 km, and the official profile stays between about 118 and 135 m. These notes follow that course and its map.

• 0 to 5 km: from Corso Sempione past Piazza Firenze, the Cimitero Monumentale and Porta Garibaldi to Piazza della Repubblica. Three waves of about 5,000 runners each make the first kilometres crowded. Do not weave. Take your first gel around the 5 km ristoro.
• 5 to 13 km: Porta Venezia, Viale Majno, Porta Romana and the southern ring to the Darsena at about 11 km. It is flat and fast, and this is where runners go out too hard. Hold your goal pace and keep the gel clock running.
• 13 to 21.1 km: Pagano, Amendola, CityLife, Portello and Viale De Gasperi to the 20 km ristoro near Monte Stella, then Via Diomede to halfway at Piazzale Lotto. Steady runners should have three or four gels in by halfway.
• 21 to 30 km: past San Siro, around Parco di Trenno, up Via Lampugnano to the 27.8 km cut-off and Via Croce. Four ristori in about 10 km. This is the quiet, outer part of the course, where focus slips. Keep eating on the clock.
• 30 to 36 km: Via Gallarate, Piazzale Accursio and Portello back toward Domodossola. Take your last full gel around 35 km.
• 36 to 42.2 km: past the Arco della Pace, through Parco Sempione by Castello Sforzesco, Via Moscova, Palestro and San Babila to the Duomo. Sips of sports drink only. The crowds carry you from here.

Last edition, the relay started at 09:15 on the same start street and its runners changed over along the course. Fresh relay legs will pass you in the second half. Let them go.

The long-run rehearsal that makes the plan real

Milan asks for an early breakfast and a fast, flat course with no gels on it. So in February and March, schedule two or three long runs that start at about 08:15. Eat breakfast at 05:30 like on race day, carry every gel you will race with, and take them at the same clock times. If you plan to use the course sports drink, you cannot buy the exact product in advance, so practise with a similar drink and treat the course cups as a bonus. One rehearsal proves the timing works; the next tests it under fatigue, at goal pace for racers and at the full expected time for the long-day group.

The later rehearsals are where you simplify. If carrying nine or ten gels is awkward, try a soft flask of concentrated drink mix, or link gels to the ristori instead: most are 2 to 6 km apart. The best plan is the one you can still follow on Via Lampugnano at 28 km.

Race-week Milan checklist

• Recheck the official site for the 2027 course map, ristoro positions, wave times and cut-offs. Last edition, the confirmation email with race instructions went out six days before the race.
• Note your wave and plan breakfast, the bag drop and the pen closing time from it.
• Lay out every carried item, add one backup, and write grams and timing on one card. Assume the course gives you only water and sports drink.
• Plan your morning backward from 08:15: breakfast, metro, bag drop in Piazza Castello, pen.
• Check the forecast 48 hours out and adjust layers, fluid and sodium, not the whole plan.
• Do not buy an unfamiliar gel at the Running Festival because the flavour sounds good.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and update notes

1. 1Wizz Air Milano Marathon 2027Wizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Accessed October 25, 2026; 4 April 2027 date, Corso Sempione start, Piazza del Duomo finish, 6h30 limit, 10 ristori (every 5 km plus 2)
2. 2Rules: Wizz Air Milano Marathon 2027 (EN) and Regolamento 2027 (IT)Wizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Active Team)Accessed October 25, 2026; 08:15 start, cut-offs at 21.1 and 27.8 km, ristori contents, sponges, pacers, medical posts; Italian version at https://www.milanomarathon.it/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Regolamento-Wizz-Air-Milano-Marathon-2027_IT.pdf
3. 3Informazioni pratiche (Italian practical information)Wizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Accessed October 25, 2026; 2027 bib pickup dates, last edition’s waves, pen and bag-drop times, metro advice, 8 plus 4 ristori
4. 4Practical InfoWizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Accessed October 25, 2026; English practical information, which lists 8 plus 5 ristori
5. 5Wizz Air Milano Marathon 2026 Route (official map)Wizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Accessed October 25, 2026; last edition’s route, kilometre markers, 12 refreshment points and elevation profile
6. 6La 25^ edizione si correrà domenica 4 aprileWizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)October 23, 2026 news; 2027 date confirmed and course still being finalized
7. 7Everything is set for the 24th edition of the marathonWizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Point-to-point course from Corso Sempione to Piazza del Duomo, first 13 km new
8. 8How to Fuel Your RunningWizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Organizer article: 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour, up to 90 g for well-trained runners
9. 9Relay Marathon Practical InfoWizz Air Milano Marathon (RCS Sports & Events)Relay start at 09:15 on Corso Sempione at the last edition
10. 10International Association of Athletics Federations Consensus Statement 2019: Nutrition for AthleticsInternational Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (Burke et al., 2019), PMID 30952204Carbohydrate ranges, pre-race meal, and hydration guidance
11. 11Contemporary Nutrition Strategies to Optimize Performance in Distance Runners and Race WalkersInternational Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (Burke et al., 2019), PMID 30747558Marathon carbohydrate intake, including up to 90 g per hour for trained runners in longer events
12. 12Nutrition and Athletic Performance: Joint Position StatementAmerican College of Sports Medicine (Thomas et al., 2016), PMID 268911661 to 4 g per kg carbohydrate 1 to 4 hours before exercise; limiting fluid loss to about 2 percent of body mass; sports drink composition
13. 13A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During ExerciseSports Medicine (Jeukendrup, 2014), PMID 24791914Multiple transportable carbohydrates and intakes above 60 g per hour
14. 14International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Caffeine and Exercise PerformanceJISSN (Guest et al., 2021), PMID 333880793 to 6 mg per kg, about 60 minutes before exercise; lower doses during exercise
15. 15April Weather in MilanWeather SparkEarly-April temperature, wet-day, humidity and sunrise averages