Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Fueling Plan & Pace Chart

Nashville Fueling Strategy

Nashville is one of the hilliest marathon courses on the major US race calendar. With 922 feet of elevation gain spread across rolling terrain, this is not a course where you can fuel on autopilot. The hills change everything about how your body processes nutrition, and your fueling plan needs to be built around the specific climbs rather than a simple time-based schedule.

Here is the core principle for hilly marathon fueling: your gut works best when your effort is steady and moderate. Every time you climb a hill, your heart rate spikes, blood diverts from your digestive system to your working muscles, and your stomach becomes less cooperative. Every time you descend, the impact forces jostle your GI tract. On a flat course like Chicago or Berlin, you can take gels on a metronomic 20-minute schedule. On Nashville's hills, you need to time your gels to the terrain.

The race starts near Nissan Stadium and heads toward downtown Broadway. The first 2 miles are relatively flat as you pass through the honky-tonk district with live bands blasting from every stage. The atmosphere is electric. Take your first gel here, at mile 1.5-2, while the road is flat and your stomach is fresh. The hills are coming, and you want carbs absorbing before the first climb.

Miles 3-6 bring the first significant rolling hills as you head south through Nashville's neighborhoods. The climbs here are moderate, 30-50 feet of gain per mile, but they're persistent. The key fueling strategy for this section: take your gels on the flat sections between hills, never during a climb. If you feel a hill approaching, either take your gel immediately (before the grade starts) or wait until the top. Eating mid-climb on a hot day in Nashville is a recipe for nausea.

Miles 7-10 continue the rolling terrain through residential neighborhoods. You're past the initial adrenaline rush and settling into race effort. This section is critical for building your calorie reserves. The hills are still present but slightly less aggressive than miles 3-6. Take a gel at mile 7 (on a flat or downhill section) and another at mile 10. By this point you should have 3-4 gels in, putting you on track for 75-90g of carbs per hour.

The middle miles (11-16) are where Nashville's terrain becomes most challenging. Several significant climbs push through neighborhoods south of the city. Your heart rate will spike on these hills, and your stomach may start to protest if you've been forcing gels during climbs. The strategy here is patience. Take gels on the descents or flats between hills. A gel taken at the bottom of a descent absorbs more efficiently than one forced down at the top of a climb when your heart rate is 15 beats above normal.

Here is where Nashville's hills create a fueling problem that doesn't exist on flat courses: calorie timing becomes irregular. On a flat course, you eat every 20 minutes like clockwork. On Nashville's hills, you might go 25-30 minutes between gels because you're waiting for appropriate terrain. This means you need to compensate by being slightly more aggressive when the terrain cooperates. When you hit a flat stretch after a long hilly section, take a gel immediately even if your last one was only 15 minutes ago. The goal is to maintain your hourly carb target despite the irregular timing.

Miles 17-20 feature the final significant hills of the course. This is where under-fueled runners fall apart. If you skipped gels during the early hills because your stomach felt unsettled, you're now facing a calorie deficit on the hardest terrain. The runners who timed their gels to the terrain in miles 3-16 will feel the difference here. Take a gel at mile 17 and another at mile 19, both on flat or downhill sections.

April weather in Nashville adds a critical variable. Temperatures can reach 70-75 degrees by mid-morning, and Tennessee humidity makes it feel even warmer. Heat and hills are a brutal combination for fueling. When your core temperature rises on a hill climb, your gut slows down further. On warm days, shift your fuel mix toward liquid calories for the second half. Sports drink and drink mix are easier to absorb than gels when you're hot and climbing. Add sodium to your plan (500-700mg per hour) to compensate for sweat losses that the humidity accelerates.

The final 6 miles (20-26) flatten out significantly as the course heads back toward Nissan Stadium. This is the payoff for disciplined hill fueling. If you timed your gels to the terrain, your energy stores should still be intact despite the demanding first 20 miles. Take a gel at mile 21 and your final gel at mile 23. The flat finish lets you push pace without the GI disruption of more hills.

One Nashville-specific tip: the live music stages at every mile are fun but loud. The noise and crowd energy can mask your fatigue signals and cause you to forget your fueling schedule. Set a watch alarm as a backup. It's easy to pass two music stages, get caught up in the atmosphere, and realize you haven't eaten in 35 minutes.

Aid stations at Nashville are roughly every mile, alternating water and Gatorade. On warm days, take fluid at every station regardless of whether you feel thirsty. By the time you feel thirsty in Nashville's humidity, you're already behind on hydration.

The bottom line: Nashville rewards runners who treat the course like a series of fueling windows separated by hills, not a continuous feeding schedule interrupted by terrain. Time your gels to the flats and descents. Be more aggressive when the terrain cooperates. Shift to liquid calories if the heat builds. The hills will test your legs. Don't let them test your nutrition too.