Mainova Frankfurt Marathon Fueling Plan & Pace Chart

Frankfurt Fueling Strategy

Frankfurt is about as flat as a big-city marathon gets, so terrain will not decide your fueling. The aid layout will. Full stations come every 5 km with water stops in between, but in 2025 gels were handed out at only five points: km 10, 20, 25, 35 and 40. That leaves a 10 km stretch from km 25 to km 35 (miles 15.5 to 21.7) with no gel on offer, right through Höchst and the long Mainzer Landstrasse straight. Plan around that gap and carry at least two of your own gels for it.

The 10 a.m. start is later than most runners are used to, and with a wave start someone at the back may not cross the line until close to 10:30. Eat breakfast three to four hours before your own crossing time, not the gun time, and take a gel in the corral about 15 minutes before you start. At 75 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour you need to start eating early, and there is nothing on course until km 5.

The first 10 km loop through the city centre, then north through the Westend and up Reuterweg to the high ground around Bremer Strasse. The rise to km 10 is about 15 to 20 meters spread over several kilometres, which you will barely notice. Take your first gel with water at the km 5 station (mile 3.1). Take your second at the km 10 gel table (mile 6.2). Both stations were set up on both sides of narrow city streets in 2025, packed with 12,000-plus runners, so drift toward the side of the road a few hundred meters early.

You cross the Main on the Alte Brücke around km 13.5 (mile 8.4) and head west through Sachsenhausen, Niederrad and Goldstein. This is the quietest, most exposed stretch of the course. In most recent years the wind has come from the southwest or west, so miles 9 to 17 are often run into it. A flat road into a headwind burns more carbohydrate than it feels like, and this is where runners let their fueling slide because nothing feels hard. Take a gel around km 15 (mile 9.3) with water at Kennedyallee, then another at the km 20 gel table (mile 12.4). By halfway in Goldstein you should have four to five gels in.

The only real ramp on the course is the approach up onto the Schwanheimer Brücke around km 24 (mile 14.9). It is short, but it comes at the point where your stomach starts getting picky. Do not eat on it. Wait for the km 25 gel table (mile 15.5), just off the bridge, and take a full cup of water with that gel.

Then comes the gap. From km 25 to km 35 there are no gels. You run out to the Höchst turn at km 27 (mile 16.8), back through Nied, and onto Mainzer Landstrasse. The km 30 station has bars, bananas and cola, but chewing an energy bar at mile 18.6 is a bad idea if you have never done it at race pace. Take your own gel around km 29 or 30 (mile 18) and another with water at km 32.5 (mile 20.2). The Mainzer Landstrasse straight is 4 km of wide, dead-straight road pointed at the skyline, usually with the wind behind you. It feels fast, and that is exactly why people forget to eat here.

Europaallee at km 35 (mile 21.7) is your last useful gel point. Take one there even if you feel fine, because the last 7 km are the twistiest of the day: Taunusanlage, Junghofstrasse, Grosse Eschenheimer Strasse and Börsenplatz, all corners and a slight rise between km 36 and km 40. The gel at km 40 (mile 24.9) comes too late to do much. Treat that station's cola as a sugar and caffeine hit for morale, and have it only if you have practiced with it. The final kilometre runs slightly downhill toward the Messe, and the finish line is 60 meters inside the Festhalle.

Know what is in the cups. The on-course drink in 2025 was Rosbacher Isofit, which carries about 4.4 grams of carbohydrate and only about 12 milligrams of sodium per 100 ml. Treat it as hydration, not fuel, and as essentially sodium-free. The 2025 gels were Powerbar PowerGels at about 26 grams of carbohydrate and 205 milligrams of sodium per packet, so runners using on-course gels got a reasonable dose. If your own gels are low in sodium, carry salt. Some of the 2025 flavours were caffeinated (about 50 milligrams) and look like the regular ones in a crowded grab, so check the packet before you tear it.

Weather is the variable. Over the last ten editions the 10 a.m. temperature ranged from the low 40s to the high 50s °F, mornings are usually humid, and several of those races had gusts above 30 mph. In a cold, windy year like 2025, run at the top of the 75 to 90 gram range because absorption is good, keep gels inside a layer so they do not thicken, and drink on a schedule since thirst is blunted. In a mild, humid year like 2022, when it reached the mid 60s by early afternoon, raise fluid by 15 to 20 percent and take water at every 2.5 km stop instead of every 5 km. In rain, as in 2023, pre-tear your gel tabs before the start.