Ultra Running Snack Ideas!

One question I get all the time is: What do you eat during an ultra? Great question! Fueling properly can make or break whether you have a good race or not but unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds to eat as much as possible. Warm weather, distressed GI system, race day nerves, the list goes on for reasons why it can be challenging to consume enough calories during an endurance event. 

There is so much research out there for what the “best” food to eat is in terms of nutritional value, which is clutch for optimal performance. Ultimately you need to experiment during your training runs to discover what works best for your stomach. I won’t dive into the nitty gritty research details here, but I will provide you a list of my favourite trail snacks. I’m curious - what are your go-to fueling options? Send me a message to let me know what I can add to my list!

Not feeling too well during the Canadian Death Race, but trying to get some calories down!

• Perogies (boiled not fried)

• Quesadilla

• Snickers bars

• Sweet potato waffles with maple syrup

• Watermelon

• Orange slices

• Chips

• Coke

• Oreos

• Miso soup

• Fruit cups

• Ritz crackers

• Pop tarts

• Pizza

• Wine gummies

• Coconut water

• Cheese sandwich

• Pickles

• Cola candy

• Granola bars

You may notice a theme of junk food in this list, which is something I’m fully aware of. Food is fuel, and you need fuel! Throughout endurance events, fast sugars that you can stomach are your friend. I intentionally left out all “running specific” nutrition like Gu energy or Honey Stinger because those ones are easy enough to discover. Those are all great fuel sources and I encourage you to explore those options too. Experiment with all types of nutrition to find what works best for you!