During trail runs of less than one hour you may not need any extra energy from carbohydrates, however for runs and races over an hour additional energy is needed. The general recommendation is 30-60g of high GI carbohydrates every hour of trail running. This can consumed via sports drinks or by eating sports foods like energy bars or regular food and sweets. Drinks are better tolerated at a carbohydrate concentration of up to 8%. Concentrations of 6-8% is high enough to easily reach carbohydrate ingestion rates and low enough not to cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
Drinks that will provide 30-60g of carbohydrates
Product |
Carbohydrate |
Concentration |
| Energade | 33g/500ml | 6.5% |
| PVM Octane Energy Drink | 42g/500ml | 8.0% |
| Coke | 55g/500ml | 11.0% |
| Fruit juice | 50g/500ml | 8-12% |
| Powerade | 30g/500ml | 6.0% |
| Cytomax | 33g/600ml | 5.5% |
| Peptosport | 32g/800ml (depending on mixing) | 4.0% (depending on mixing) |
| Hammer Perpeteum | 54g/600ml | 9.0% |
Sports foods and snacks that will provide 30-60g of carbohydrates
Product * |
Carbohydrate |
Serving to reach 30-60g |
| PVM Energy Bar | 31g/bar | 1-2 bars per hour |
| Hammer Energy Gel | 21g/serving | 2-3 servings per hour |
| Bananas | 25g/banana | 2 bananas per hour |
| Energy sweets e.g. jelly babies | 55g/small packet (75g) | 1 small packet |
| Powerbar Performance Energy Bar | 45g/bar | 1 bar per hour (Check hydration) |
| Gu Energy Gel | 25g/serving | 2 per hour (Take fluids) |
Always test any sports foods and drinks during training runs as every individual is different.