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

Paris is a marathon people dream about: the start on the Champs-Élysées, the river, the cobblestones, and the finish on Avenue Foch. It is also a race where the fueling rules are different from most big-city marathons. At the last edition, no cups or bottles were handed out on the course. You brought your own container and filled it at the stations. That one detail changes how you carry fuel, how you drink, and what you practise in training.

The 2027 race is the 50th edition, with a new name, a new organizer, and a course the organizer is keeping secret until a few weeks before race day. So this guide does two things. It lists what is confirmed for 2027, and it uses the last edition’s official station list as a working plan, clearly labelled, until the new map comes out. Then it shows when you would reach each station at your pace and gives three plans to choose from.

Paris Marathon 2027: what is confirmed so far

The organizer’s FAQ says the start and finish plans, access routes, times, and refreshment details will be sent to runners before the race. Treat everything below that comes from the last edition as the most likely shape of the race, not a promise. When the 2027 map is published, check three things first: whether you still need your own container, where the first full station is, and whether any gels are handed out.

What was on the Paris Marathon course last edition

The full stations were 160 m long, with bananas, gingerbread, dried fruit, sugar cubes, pretzels, and salty crackers spaced along the tables. The organizer said there was no need to grab from the first table, because there was room further along. Water points sat between the full stations, and volunteers helped fill containers. No gels were listed. If your plan is built on gels, you carry every one of them.

Runners aiming under 2:50 had one exception. If they started in the preferred wave, no later than 8:03 a.m., and held about 4:01 per km, they could use pre-filled bottles from the organizer. Those bottles had to go into collection zones about 150 m after each station, and runners who ignored this could be disqualified. Anyone who fell behind that pace switched to the normal refill system.

When you will reach each station at your pace

The table uses the last edition’s station kilometres and an even pace. It shows how long you run on what you carry. A 3:00 runner reaches the halfway station at about 1:31. A 6:00 runner gets there after three hours, which is why the long-day plan leans on the food tables in the second half. The 2027 time limit is not published, so all six finish times are shown.

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 when the product mixes glucose and fructose and the gut has been trained for it. That gives three honest profiles rather than one number for everyone.

Racing it: your problem is carrying enough without a cup on every corner. Ninety grams per hour for three hours is 270 g, which is about nine 30 g gels. A soft flask of your own drink mix, filled before the start, can carry part of that and leaves fewer packets. Build the number over eight to ten weeks of long runs, starting at 60 g and adding 10 g every second week while your stomach stays quiet. Take the first gel about 20 minutes in, before you feel anything, and the last one around 35 km.

Steady marathon: aim for 60 to 75 g per hour and think in grams, not packets. A 4:00 race at 65 g per hour is about 260 g, so eight or nine gels. All of them come from your belt, because the last edition listed no course gels. The good news is that a flask in your hand makes gels easier, not harder. You can take a gel at the planned minute and wash it down with your own water, instead of waiting for the next station. Write the grams next to every item and total each hour.

Long day: five or six hours on the course changes the maths. Forty-five grams per hour over five and a half hours is about 250 g, almost as much as the racer. Your limits are stomach comfort and total fluid, not absorption. Small, frequent doses work well: half a gel every 15 to 20 minutes, a chew when a gel feels like too much, and food from the full stations if you have tried it in training. Sugar cubes and gingerbread are simple carbohydrate; salty crackers and pretzels add salt. Walking ten steps through a station is how you refill a flask without spilling it.

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: plain water and most gels give you little. Ta Energy was the electrolyte drink at two points last edition, and the full stations had salty snacks. Salty sweaters on a warm afternoon can add a salt product they have tested, roughly 300 to 600 mg per hour.
• Your container: a 250 to 500 ml soft flask in a belt or vest is easier than a cup you hold for 42 km. Practise filling it from a tap or jug while moving slowly.
• Wrappers: keep empty packets in a pocket until a bin. With no cups on the course, the stations are about refills, so a free hand matters more.

Hydration for an early-April morning in Paris

In early April, Paris averages a daily high near 13 °C (56 °F) and a low near 5 °C (41 °F), with about a one-in-four chance of a wet day. An early wave usually starts cool. Last edition the waves were spread over about three and a half hours, so a runner in the last wave aiming for 5:30 or 6:00 finishes in the warmest part of the afternoon. Fluid needs depend on body size, pace, weather, and your own sweat rate. 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 long run before race week.
• Know how many refills your plan needs, then pick those stations now instead of deciding while tired.
• Last edition, extra water sprays were set up for high temperatures; use them to cool down, not to drink.
• Seek help for confusion, severe headache, repeated vomiting, or collapse, whatever the clock says.

Breakfast for an early or late wave

A familiar carbohydrate-rich meal one to four hours before racing is the standard framework in the World Athletics consensus. Your wave time will not be known until the organizer sends the start information, so plan two versions now. For a start near 8:00, eat at about 5:00 to 5:30. For a late-morning wave, eat a normal breakfast three to four hours before your own start and add a small top-up about an hour before.

• Three to four hours before your wave: a practised meal such as a baguette or toast 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 your wave is late and you know it sits well.
• Ten to fifteen minutes before the gun: an optional gel, only if used successfully in training.
• Fill your flask before you leave the hotel; you may not reach a tap in the start area.
• Keep caffeine at the dose and timing you know; race morning is not the day to double it.

Course tactics: where Paris tempts you

• The start on the Champs-Élysées: a wide avenue and a huge crowd. It is easy to run the first 5 km too fast. Take the first gel at about 20 minutes anyway, with your own water.
• The first full station (4.8 km last edition): you do not need it if you started with a full flask. Skip it if it is busy and refill at the next one.
• Cobblestones: the organizer lists them as part of the Paris experience. Open and take gels on smooth road, not on cobbles, where your eyes should be on your feet.
• The long full stations: at 160 m, there is room further down the table. Keep moving, fill up past the crowd, and do not stop in the middle of the road.
• The second half: last edition had the most stations after halfway, with a Ta Energy point at 32.2 km. Steady and long-day runners should plan their final refill around 35 km.
• The finish on Avenue Foch: your last carbohydrate should go in by about 37 km. Run the last kilometres on fuel already taken.

The long-run rehearsal that makes the plan real

Use at least two long runs as full race simulations. Start at the time you expect to start, eat the same breakfast, wear the same belt or vest, carry the same flask and gels, and fuel at the same clock times. Add one thing most marathons never ask for: refill your flask during the run, from a tap or a bottle you leave on your loop, without stopping your watch for long. One rehearsal proves the plan works. The second tests it under fatigue, at goal pace for racers and at the full expected time for the long-day group.

The second rehearsal is where you simplify. If nine packets are awkward, put part of your carbohydrate in the flask as drink mix and refill with water only. If the flask bounces, try a different belt now, not in race week. The best plan is the one you can still follow at 35 km, not the one that looks best in a spreadsheet.

Race-week Paris checklist

• Read the 2027 course and refreshment information as soon as it is published, and update your station times.
• Confirm whether you still need your own cup, flask, or pack, and pack one you have trained with.
• Find your wave start time in the start information and work breakfast backward from it.
• Lay out every carried item, add one backup gel, and write grams and timing on one card.
• Check the forecast 48 hours out and adjust fluid and sodium, not the whole plan.
• Do not buy an unfamiliar gel at the expo because the flavour sounds good.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and update notes

1. 1ASICS Marathon de Paris: FAQASICS Marathon de Paris2027 date and 50th edition; course, start, finish, and refreshment details to be published later
2. 2ASICS Marathon de Paris: The CourseASICS Marathon de ParisStart on the Champs-Élysées, finish on Avenue Foch, course revealed a few weeks before race day
3. 3ASICS Marathon de Paris: The Paris MarathonASICS Marathon de Paris50th edition on April 4, 2027; cobblestones, Seine, finish on Avenue Foch; organizer Cadence Running United
4. 4Refreshment Stations (last edition, archived copy of the official page)Schneider Electric Marathon de ParisStation kilometres, food list, Ta Energy points, no cups or bottles, sub-2:50 bottle system
5. 5Refreshments and Hydration: An Enhanced and More Sustainable Service (archived)Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris13 refreshment points, 160 m full stations, bottle collection zones
6. 63 h 30 de départ ? Pourquoi donc ? (archived)Schneider Electric Marathon de ParisWave starts spread over about three and a half hours at the last edition
7. 7Nutrition for Athletics: 2019 IAAF Consensus StatementWorld AthleticsCarbohydrate ranges, pre-race meal, and hydration guidance
8. 8A Step Towards Personalized Sports Nutrition: Carbohydrate Intake During ExerciseSports Medicine (Jeukendrup, 2014), PMID 24791914Multiple transportable carbohydrates and intakes above 60 g per hour
9. 9International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Caffeine and Exercise PerformanceJISSN (2021), PMID 333880793 to 6 mg per kg dosing guidance
10. 10Paris April Weather, Average TemperatureWeather SparkEarly-April temperature and wet-day averages