Recommended by: 
We recommend:
A light breakfast, small bowl of Oat / Toast with Peanut Butter and a cup of Coffee.
Alternatively:
500ml Sports/Electrolyte Drin k(GU Electrolyte Tabs / Energy Drink) and a Banana / muffin / GU Stroopwafel.
How long before the race? Breakfast as above: 90min-2 hours before the race and then 1x GU gel / half packet Chews 5-15min before race start
We recommend:
Electrolyte drink along with some Protein post-race to aid with recovery. Alternatively: Steri Stumpie / Drinking Yogurt
How long after the race? Within 60-90 of the finish
Products:
Remember to always drink around 500-700ml fluid (preferably electrolyte based) per hour during activity to maintain proper muscle function and performance
GU gels with Caffeine available in various flavors such as:
Vanilla, Chocolate, Espresso, Tri Berry, Jet Blackberry, Cola, Orange etc.
GU gels without Caffeine available in the following flavors:
Strawberry/Banana, Rasberry Lemonade, Lemon, Birthday Cake etc.
GU Roctane Gels contain double the electrolytes and 3x more amino acids than standard GU gels. Available in the following flavors: Blueberry Pomegranate, Vanilla Orange, Cold Brew Coffee, Sea Salt Chocolate all with Caffeine and Strawberry Kiwi without Caffeine.
Due to any distance longer than a marathon we recommend taking a GU serving every hour in stead of 45min depending on your pace. Generally, if you not racing at elite level your pace will be much slower than for instance 21km so you will burn calories a lot slower. The focus here is still to maintain energy by taking in GU supplements, but to vary this with solid food, especially if you will be running for more than 4 hours.
Normally athletes start craving salty stuff so some good options here for will be Hot Cross buns, rolls with cheese/Marmite, Salt and Vinegar Chips, Peanut Butter sandwich, potato etc.
Its best to test what combination of foods work best for your body on long runs leading up to the race. A very important and seldom overlooked point is to keep electrolyte levels up, even more when its hot temperatures. Here GU Electrolyte Tabs will assist you, best to drink at least 1 serving every 90minutes.
Most of the time athletes will start deviating from their nutrition plan in the second half of the race as they get tired of sweet stuff. This is normal, but remember its best to have a backup plan as you will still need fuel to get you through the race. Banana will here also help as fuel source as its takes quite long to digest and is good source of Magnesium and Potassium for muscle function.
A good point to remember when using your GU gels during long events is that taking in fluid with the GU Gel helps absorption into your system and sooth your stomach. Athletes that experience cramping or upset stomachs is in most cases due to there being too much concentrated carbohydrates in your stomach which causes your stomach to pull fluid from other muscles to help digestion. So best to take your GU with 2 or 3 mouthfuls of water to help digestion. The same principle applies when using the GU Chews as this is also a concentrated carbohydrate just in a solid form. Chews can also be a good alternative when you get tired of taking in gels.
As with all endurance events its key to test what combination products (Gels/Chews) / flavors work best with your body as well as the timing to take them. Every athlete is different and the guidelines given is an average that work for most people.
Always remember a GU Gel/Chews are sweet as it’s a concentrated form of carbohydrates with added amino acids and electrolytes to help fuel your body. With anything concentrated you need to dilute itwith water…so always remember to take any GU with 2 or 3 mouthfuls of water. Best to time your fueling around when you pass an aid station.
While you willbe tempted to just grab a Coke on course every aid station, try and leave this for as late as possible in the race. With the high sugar content and caffeine in Coke this will spike your insulin levels and make you feel flat and lethargic within 10min after drinking it.
If you can leave the Coke for the last 5-10km that will be best as the aid stations is closer together then and once you start drinking Coke you will need to continue it at every aid station to keep up the sugar high 