Guthrie Wineglass Marathon Fueling Plan & Pace Chart

Wineglass Fueling Strategy

Wineglass is one of the fastest courses in the Northeast, and it is fast in a specific way. The net drop is about 190 feet, almost all of it spread as a gentle downhill from mile 10 to the finish, and the field is full of runners chasing a Boston time on the edge of their fitness. There is exactly one real climb, between miles 4.75 and 6, and one sharp descent right after it. Everything else is small. That makes this a race you fuel on the clock rather than around terrain, and the runners who fade here almost always fade because they ate on feel through a quiet, flat, rural middle and ran out between mile 20 and Corning.

Start with the on-course product, because it has changed. The 2026 official program names Tailwind (strawberry lemonade) as the course drink and Huma as the gel, and puts gel tables at the 7.8, 13.3, 18.5 and 21.5 mile water stations. The 7.8, 13.3 and 18.5 tables serve water and gels only, no Tailwind. Tailwind is a carbohydrate drink, not an electrolyte-only mix: 25 grams of carbohydrate and 310 milligrams of sodium per scoop. If stations mix it to Tailwind's own guidance of two scoops per 18 to 24 ounces, a 5-ounce cup carries roughly 10 to 14 grams. That is real fuel, but the race does not publish its mix ratio, and in earlier years the drink was Huma Hydration, which carries almost no carbohydrate. Confirm at the expo. Until then, count the drink as a bonus of maybe 10 grams a cup, not as part of the plan. The Huma gels are chia-based, 24 grams of carbohydrate a pouch, with 105 milligrams of sodium in the Original line and 245 in Plus. Several flavors carry 25 milligrams of caffeine and the Doubleshot Mocha carries 100. The texture is noticeably different from a standard gel, so if you have not trained on Huma, carry your own and treat the four gel tables as backup.

The first 4.75 miles are the easiest place to fall behind. The course drops off Mt. Washington Road into Bath through three early turns, then settles onto flat Route 415 toward Savona. With an 8:15 start and a cool valley morning, nothing will feel urgent. Take your first gel around mile 3 and wash it down at the station near mile 4. That puts it in before the one climb of the day rather than on it.

From mile 4.75 the road rises about 40 to 60 feet to the course high point near mile 5.9. Do not eat on the climb. There is no table between mile 4 and 7.8, so run the descent between 6.5 and 7, the steepest of the race at roughly 60 feet in half a mile, with your hands empty and your stride short. Your second gel belongs on the flat at the 7.8 gel station, whether you take the Huma or your own.

Miles 8 through 14 are two small rollers, a drop into Savona around mile 10, and a long, barely perceptible descent through Campbell. Stations near 10, 12 and 13.3 are well spaced and the grade is working for you, so this is your best absorption window of the day. Use the 13.3 gel station as your audit point. A runner on a 3:20 to 3:25 pace reaches halfway at about 1:41, and at 75 to 90 grams an hour that is 125 to 150 grams in. For most people that means four or five gels plus whatever Tailwind you have taken. Also note that the next station after 13.3 is not until about mile 16, and that stretch contains a 30-foot bump near mile 15. Drink fully at 13.3.

Miles 15.5 to 20 are where Wineglass gets quiet. Curtis Hollow Road and Curtis-Coopers Road run through farmland past Coopers Plains with thin crowds, and some years a headwind or crosswind down the valley. Flat and quiet is exactly where people stop eating. Take a gel around mile 16.5 and another at the 18.5 gel station, because the next water after that is not until mile 20.5 on Victory Highway.

The last six miles are not hard, but they are busy. There is a rise of about 20 feet on Victory Highway from 20.3 to 21.7 that feels bigger than it is, then Painted Post brings hairpins around 21.5 and 22, a paved bike path from about 22.3 to 23.2, and a string of turns through Corning's west side. Stations are dense here, roughly one a mile from 20.5 to 25.5, so take small sips at each rather than full cups at a few. The last gel table is at 21.5 in Painted Post. Take your final gel by mile 24 at the latest. After that it is Pulteney Street, Hillvue Avenue along the river, a small rise onto the Bridge Street bridge over the Chemung around 25.8, and the left turn onto Market Street.

Weather decides how aggressive to be. The long-run average start is around 51 degrees with fog and near-saturated air common in the valley, which is close to ideal and argues for running at the top of the 75 to 90 gram range. But recent years have warmed up fast, with daily highs of 79 degrees in 2023 and 83 in 2025, and a four-hour runner is still on the course past noon. On a warm forecast, raise fluid by 15 to 20 percent, take water at every station from mile 13 on, and trim gel carbohydrate by 10 to 15 percent if your stomach tightens. Sodium matters more than the menu suggests: an Original Huma gel carries only 105 milligrams, so if you are a heavy sweater and the forecast is above 65, carry your own salt or use Huma Plus.