What a Sports Nutritionist Notices Watching UTMB: Lessons From the Aid Station
I've spent a lot of time around trail races this summer.
While I did run my big goal race (Broken Goat 50Km), I spent more time on the sidelines. Volunteering. Cheering. Standing near aid stations. Crewing my runner friends. Watching runners arrive tired, sweaty, hungry, thirsty and sometimes a little bit shell-shocked by the distance they've just covered.
So when I sat down to watch the UTMB live stream with my parents this year, I found myself watching the race a little differently.
Most people watching an ultramarathon might be focused on the athletes, the incredible scenery, the climbs, the descents or the race leaders.
Me?
I was watching the aid station.
Specifically, I was watching what the world's best ultrarunners were doing when they came into the Courmayeur aid station, roughly halfway through the UTMB course. Explaining to my non-runner parents, what was happening and why, which they actually also found fascinating.
And my sports-nutritionist brain was fascinated.
Because an aid station tells you a lot about an athlete.
What they're eating.
What they're drinking.
What they're carrying.
What they're prioritizing.
What they're willing to stop for.
How they work with their crew.
And, perhaps most importantly, how well they've planned for the next several hours of their race.
After watching for far longer than I intended, I came away with a few observations that I think are incredibly relevant—not just to ultrarunners, but to anyone training for a long-distance endurance event.
First, what is UTMB?
If you're not familiar with the ultrarunning world, UTMB stands for Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
The flagship UTMB race takes athletes around 170 kilometres (106 miles) through the Alps, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland, with roughly 10,000 metres of elevation gain.
Yes, you read that correctly.
170 kilometers!!
On trails.
Through the mountains.
For many runners, simply finishing UTMB is an enormous accomplishment. For the elite athletes, the race becomes an extraordinary combination of speed, endurance, technical trail skill, pacing, nutrition, hydration and mental resilience.
And that's what makes the aid stations so fascinating.
Because after hours of running, an athlete has to make dozens of tiny decisions that can ultimately determine whether the second half of their race goes well—or goes very, very badly.
The Courmayeur aid station: halfway isn't halfway easy
The live stream I was watching showed athletes coming through the Courmayeur aid station, which is located roughly 80 kilometres into the UTMB course—around the halfway point by distance.
And this is where things get really interesting.
By this point, athletes have already been moving for hours.
They've been climbing. Descending. Eating. Drinking. Sweating. Thinking. Problem-solving. And building up fatigue.
This isn't the beginning of the race anymore, when everything feels exciting and fresh.
The body has been working for a long time.
And suddenly, the aid station becomes a critical opportunity to reset and prepare for what's next.
That's something I also recognize from the local trail races I've been around this summer.
You can learn a tremendous amount by watching what happens when runners reach an aid station.
Some move through quickly.
Some stop and assess.
Some immediately reach for fluids.
Some want food.
Some need help with gear.
Some are very organized.
But most don't usually know what they need, so we need to help them to make decisions one bite, sip and step at a time.
At UTMB, I noticed the same fundamental human needs—but at an entirely different level.
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1. Elite runners weren't just “getting food”
One of the first things that caught my attention was how purposeful the athletes were. They are incredibly organized and maximizing efficiency.
An aid station wasn't simply:
“Let's see what's available.”
It was more like:
“This is what I've planned to need at this moment, and what I will need for the next section.”
That's a very different mindset.
The best endurance nutrition plans aren't simply about knowing that you need carbohydrates. They're about having a strategy. Very intention, tried and tested and to the minute. They organize themselves by knowing in advance:
How much do I need?
Where is it coming from?
What can I tolerate right now?
What will I want an hour from now?
What happens if my stomach starts feeling off?
How much fluid do I need?
What do I need to carry with me?
These decisions must be made before race day, so that the aid station becomes a place to execute—not improvise.
2. Hydration was clearly a priority—but so was everything else
Of course, hydration was a major focus.
Athletes were drinking, refilling bottles and dealing with their hydration systems. But what struck me was that hydration wasn't treated as the only nutrition priority. They were thinking about food and fuel at the same time. That's important because endurance nutrition is a balancing act between energy, carbohydrate, fluids and electrolytes, all while trying to keep the gastrointestinal system happy, because not getting this combination right can lead to massive GI distress.
The goal is to develop an individualized strategy based on the athlete, the environment, sweat losses, race duration and access to fluids.
At UTMB, athletes also have to contend with changing temperatures, elevation and enormous differences in effort throughout the course. It's a moving target, which means their strategy needs to be adaptable.
3. Real food was part of the fueling picture
This was one of my favourite things to notice.
Yes, there were gels and sports products. But there was also real food!
Bread
Cheese
Fruit
Potatoes
Broth
Onigiri
Noodles
And other foods that looked considerably more like something you'd find in a kitchen than something you'd find in the sports nutrition aisle. Since the time I was watch was during the very early morning hours, it was still dark, so athletes were reaching for warm foods like soups and broths, which must be a refreshing change from eat sugary gels while on course.
This is something I wish more runners understood:
You don't have to choose between “sports nutrition” and “real food.”
They can coexist.
A gel can be incredibly useful when you need a convenient, concentrated source of carbohydrate. However, after several hours of consuming sweet things, something salty or savoury can suddenly become much more appealing.
For some athletes, familiar foods can also be easier to tolerate and more satisfying. We want foods that will both help us meet our fueling needs but also enjoy and tolerate during these incredible feats.
4. The aid station was also a gear-management station
Something else I found fascinating was watching athletes reorganize their packs.
This wasn't just a food stop; it was a reset station. The athletes had different strategies for managing their packs. Some took them off to refill and reorganize them, while others left them on and simply restocked what they needed. Some also relied on their crew to make sure everything was in place and comfortable before putting their packs back on. Regardless of the approach, everything going in and out of the pack was deliberate and intentional, preparing the athletes for the next section of trail.
That reminded me of something that applies to every endurance runner:
Accessibility matters.
If your fuel is buried at the bottom of your pack, you're less likely to eat it.
If your bottle is difficult to reach, you're less likely to drink consistently.
If you've packed twelve different foods but have no idea which one you actually want to eat, decision-making becomes harder when you're tired.
Your nutrition strategy isn't only about what you bring.
It's also about how easy you make so you don't have to think about it.
5. Apparently, even in a 100-mile race, people want to feel human
This was one of the observations that made me smile.
I watched athletes take time for things that had nothing directly to do with carbohydrate per hour or hydration and yet so necessary to help you feel good.
Face wipes
Changing clothes
Changing layers
Freshening up
Brushing their teeth
Brushing your teeth after hours on the trail makes so much sense! After hours of running, eating, drinking and sweating, feeling even slightly more human probably feels fantastic.
We know that endurance performance isn't purely physiological.
Comfort matters.
Mental state matters.
Feeling clean matters.
Feeling organized matters.
Feeling like you have regained a tiny bit of control matters.
And while a fresh shirt isn't going to magically repair tired muscles, these small acts can help an athlete mentally reset before heading back into the mountains.
6. There wasn't one “elite athlete diet”
Perhaps one of the coolest things I noticed was the variety.
Athletes from different backgrounds and cultures were eating different foods. There wasn't one universal menu.
And I loved seeing that!
I saw everything from rice balls, noodles, full potatoes, pasta and bread, to broth, soups, stews and even charcuterie boards!!
It was a great reminder that nutrition doesn't have to look the same for everyone. We sometimes get caught up in the idea that there is one perfect food for runners.
One perfect breakfast.
One perfect gel.
One perfect recovery meal.
But athletes have different cultures, preferences, palates, digestive systems and experiences with food.
There is more than one way to fuel well.
The goal is to meet the body's needs in a way that is practical, enjoyable, tolerated and sustainable.
That's one of the reasons I don't believe in cookie-cutter fueling plans.
7. The athletes were solving problems—not following a script
This is why I love trail running. We are master problem solvers!
The plan matters, but so does the ability to adapt. When something isn't cooperating, we stop, reassess and adapt. That can have huge benefits and impacts, both on and off the trail.
Long-distance and mountain racing is unpredictable. The athletes who have experience don't avoid their problems, they have developed the ability to recognize problems and respond to them.
And that is something every runner can practice.
8. Your race nutrition should be practiced long before race day
Watching UTMB reinforced something I tell runners over and over:
Race day is not the day to experiment.
Your long runs are your laboratory. That's where you test:
Your carbohydrate intake
Your hydration
Your electrolytes
Your preferred foods
Your gels and sports products
Your tolerance for real food
Your timing
Your pack organization
You want to arrive at race day thinking:
“I've done this before.”
Not:
“I wonder if this will work?”
Just ask!
I love helping clients develop meal plans that pack all the nutrients that they need into meal plans and recipe books!
What UTMB made me think about differently
I didn't stand at the Courmayeur aid station in person. I watched it through a screen.
But after spending this summer around local trail races, watching runners move through aid stations and seeing firsthand how athletes respond to fatigue, food, fluid and the demands of the course, I found myself paying very close attention. What struck me most wasn't that the elite athletes had some magical secret.
They didn't.
They were doing many of the same fundamental things I see at local races:
Drink. Eat. Assess. Reorganize. Reset. Keep moving.
The difference is the scale of the challenge—and the level of preparation behind those decisions.
That's what I love about endurance nutrition. It isn't about finding the one perfect gel or memorizing a complicated list of rules, numbers and equations. It's about learning how to listen to your body while also understanding what your body needs to perform.
It's science.
It's strategy.
And sometimes, it's brushing your teeth halfway through a 100-mile race.
And honestly?
I love every bit of it!
What can you take from UTMB if you're training for a marathon?
You don't need to run 106 miles through the Alps to learn something from an ultramarathon. If you're training for a half marathon, marathon or trail race, start thinking about your fueling strategy as something you practice, not something you buy on race morning.
Ask yourself:
Am I fueling my training adequately?
Your body needs energy not just to run, but to recover, adapt and support everything else you ask of it.
Have I practiced fueling while running?
Your gastrointestinal system can adapt to carbohydrate intake during exercise. Practice matters.
Do I have more than one fueling option?
Maybe gels work well for you.
Maybe you love sports drink.
Maybe you need something salty or more substantial during a longer event.
Know your options.
Do I have a hydration strategy?
Don't simply rely on “I'll drink when I'm thirsty” or “I'll drink as much as I can.”
Think about the race environment and your individual needs.
Do I know what I'll do if something goes wrong?
Because eventually, something probably will.
And that's okay.
The goal isn't a perfect race.
The goal is to be prepared enough to adapt.
Want to fuel your next race with more confidence?
If there's one thing I've learned from watching elite ultrarunners—and from spending time around runners at local trail races this summer—it's this:
Good race nutrition doesn't happen by accident.
It's practiced.
It's personalized.
And it needs to work for the actual human who is running the race.
If you're training for a marathon, half marathon or trail race and you're unsure what to eat, how much carbohydrate you need, how to approach hydration or how to build a race-day fueling strategy, this is exactly the kind of work I love helping runners with.
Because you don't need another generic “eat this, not that” plan.
You need a strategy that makes sense for your body, your training and your race.
Ready to stop guessing and start fueling with confidence?
In my Endurance Essentials Program, I’ll show you exactly how to fuel for your specific training needs, prevent underfueling, and run your strongest race yet.
Let's build your race fueling plan—before race day.
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