Marathon Race Week Checklist: The Week, the Night Before and Race Morning

The quick checklist

In marathon race week, run the short taper runs your plan lists, skip any "one last long run", eat more carbohydrate in the last two days, and lay out tested kit the night before. On race morning, use the same shoes, socks, clothes, balm and gels you used on your long runs, and start at a pace you can hold. In short:

• Race week: short, easy runs only; no catch-up miles and no last long run
• Two days out: raise carbohydrate intake; keep foods familiar
• Night before: pin your bib, lay out every item, charge your watch, check the forecast
• Race morning: balm on, old layer for the start, gels counted, shoes you trust
• During the race: fuel on the schedule you practiced, drink to thirst, walk aid stations if it helps
• If you are ill with a fever, vomiting, diarrhea or chest pain: don't run

Race week: the last seven days

Race week is the last part of the taper. The work is done; the job now is to arrive rested. London Marathon Events' tapering guide, written by physiotherapist Nicky Edwards, flags two common mistakes: trying to do "one last long run" the week before the race, and trying to catch up on "missed" runs. Its advice on the latter: "Don't do this." It also suggests avoiding hill sprints and interval sessions in the final week.

• Run what the plan lists, easily. Short, easy runs and nothing more. Feeling restless is not a reason to add miles.
• Bank sleep early in the week. The same guide notes that barely anyone sleeps well the night before, and that one night of poor sleep does not impair performance. Better sleep earlier in the week takes the pressure off the last night.
• Get your gear sorted by midweek. Wash your race kit, check your shoes and count your gels. Our marathon gear checklist has the full list.
• Watch for illness. London Marathon Events' medical advice is blunt: if you have a high temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, chest pain or simply feel "off", do not run.

Race week, day by day

For a Sunday marathon on the Novice 1 plan. The runs are Higdon's week 18; the tasks alongside them are our suggested checklist.

If your race is on a Saturday, shift everything a day earlier. If you're on a different plan, keep the principle: short, easy runs early in the week, rest in the last day or two, and nothing new.

Carb loading, in plain numbers

A sports-nutrition review by Louise Burke of the Australian Institute of Sport says carbohydrate loading can enhance marathon performance by letting a runner hold their pace longer before fatiguing. For the well-trained runner, it says this may be achieved by tapering in the final days and eating 10 to 12 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day over the 36 to 48 hours before the race.

By our arithmetic, for a 154 lb (70 kg) runner that is 700 to 840 g of carbohydrate a day. That is a lot of food, so try your approach before a long run in training rather than for the first time in race week, and note that the review frames the figure for well-trained runners. London Marathon Events' taper guide makes the general point simply: increase carbohydrate intake during the taper. If you have a medical condition that affects your diet, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian first.

The night before

Lay everything out in one place, in the order you'll put it on. The checklist:

• Shoes you've run long in (London Marathon Events: "Run in shoes you already trust")
• Socks you've worn on long runs
• Shorts or tights, shirt and sports bra you've already raced or long-run in
• Bib, pinned to your shirt or clipped to a race number belt
• Timing chip, if your race sends one separately
• Gels: the number you plan to take, plus one spare
• Anti-chafe balm
• An old layer to wear at the start and leave behind
• Watch charged; phone charged if you carry one
• Weather check: London Marathon Events says layer up with a hat and gloves when cold or wet, and wear light, breathable kit and start slower when hot
• Travel plan to the start, with time to spare

Race morning

• Eat what you've eaten before long runs. Race morning is not the time to test a new breakfast.
• Apply balm before you dress. London Marathon Events' first-marathon advice lists armpits, nipples, between the thighs and ankles, noting that blisters and chafing are two things you want to avoid.
• Wear an old layer to the start. The same advice: just because you've dropped off your kit bag doesn't mean you have to freeze.
• Count your gels and check your bib. One last look before you leave.
• Get to the start early. Allow for crowds, bag drop and restroom lines.

A race-morning timeline

Work backward from your start time. A simple version to adapt:

1. Wake with enough time to eat the breakfast you tested before long runs and let it settle.
2. Dress in the kit you laid out; apply balm before, not after, you put on your shirt and shorts.
3. Pin or clip your bib, and put your gels where you practiced carrying them.
4. Leave with your old layer on and a margin for transport delays.
5. At the start: bag drop first, then the restroom line, then your corral.
6. Shed the old layer just before the start, and start at the pace you planned, not the pace of the crowd.

During the race: fuel, water, pacing

Fuel

The International Society of Sports Nutrition's position stand says that for hard exercise lasting more than about an hour, carbohydrate should be taken at roughly 30 to 60 g per hour. With GU gels at 21 to 23 g of carbohydrate each, that works out, by our arithmetic, to roughly one to three gels an hour if gels are your only source. Practical guidance varies: London Marathon Events suggests about one gel every 45 to 60 minutes, and GU suggests one every 20 to 30 minutes. Whatever you settled on in training is the right answer for race day.

Water

London Marathon Events' medical advice: drink to thirst, not more, because drinking too much can cause hyponatremia (water intoxication). Higdon suggests walking through aid stations, because you can drink more easily walking than running.

Pacing

Higdon's Novice 1 plan is built around finishing: "The important point is that you cover the distance; how fast matters less." He also writes that walking is perfectly acceptable for finishing, and advises walking when you want to, "not when your fatigued body forces you to." On a hot day, London Marathon Events' advice is to start slower.

Race-week mistakes, and what the sources say instead

The nothing-new rule

Every source above lands in the same place: race day is for things you have already tested. Hal Higdon is specific about shoes. He says runners need to test any new pair before racing in them, suggests at least two or three runs in new shoes including one semi-long run, and warns that expo-new shoes might work in a 5K or 10K, "but not in a marathon", because blisters might not appear until after the 20th mile. If you're still choosing a race shoe, you are choosing for your next marathon: see our marathon race shoe ranking and pick early.

If blisters have been a problem on long runs, read how to prevent blisters when running well before race week, not during it. Running a half first? Our first half marathon tips cover the shorter race.