- Sodium
- 270 mg / 20 oz
- Caffeine
- 0 mg
- Glucose : fructose
- sucrose and dextrose
Every aid station on the course, what it serves, and the exact minute you reach it based on your goal time. Then a fueling plan built on this exact course, so every gel is placed where there is water to wash it down and you never hit the wall in the last 6 miles.
Aid tables from the official Haunted Forest Marathon race page, checked 22 Sep 2026. Haunted Forest publishes miles; kilometres are converted. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Most fueling plans are generic: take a gel every 30 minutes, wash it down with water and drink your carb beverage in between.
But, what if your planned time to take a gel comes right in the middle of a hill? What if there’s no aid station close by to grab water from?
Often, where each gel goes on the course matters as much as how many you take
It’s these small, often ignored parts of executing a fueling plan that trip runners up and have them hitting the wall or slowing down because of an upset stomach, despite having a well-rehearsed fueling plan heading into the race.
things go wrong when you don’t account for the course in your fueling plan
You plan a gel at 60 minutes, but the next water station isn’t for another 15. That means you either have to wait, take it without water and have it sit, or take it with your carb beverage and take in too much sugar for your stomach to process.
Haunted Forest has 13 aid stations and no gel at any of them. The race page names water and lemon-lime Gatorade and nothing else, so the cup is the only carbohydrate on the course. The longest gap, mile 19.3 to 22.2, comes straight after the second turnaround. Without a plan you either double up later and pay for it, or run the rest of the race short.
As intensity increases, your stomach’s ability to process carbohydrates slows down. Couple that with breathing harder up a hill and you’ve got the perfect storm for a gel that can’t be digested fast enough.
The distance between aid stations, the concentration of the carbohydrate drink, and how much you’re actually able to swallow all change how much glycogen you’re actually replacing every hour. Your plan calls for 60 g per hour, but if you only hit 40 g you’ll run out of glycogen before you finish.
So your fueling plan needs to start with one question, and everything after it follows.
Water at 13 tables, Gatorade at all of them.
What that adds up to, and what you still carry.
Fuel off the course ↓Your products, your timing, nothing riding on a cup you might miss.
What the course still decides for you.
Fuel from your own kit ↓Haunted Forest is a good course to do this on. Water and Gatorade Thirst Quencher come at all 13 tables. Below is where you’ll find each station.
Elevation is stretched to emphasis location. The numbered dots are your recommended fueling options for your 3:45 goal.
Source: the official Haunted Forest Marathon, checked 22 Sep 2026
Water is provided at all 13 tables, from mile 2.4 to mile 25.3.
Gatorade Thirst Quencher at every table, so there is carbohydrate in the cup each time you drink. Haunted Forest hands out no gels.
The course climbs 322 ft in total and its steepest grade is 1.7%, so no hill is long enough to move a feed. That is why CarbRate places yours by the water tables instead.
every table, mile 2.4 to mile 25.3
every table from mile 2.4 to mile 25.3
Put your goal time in and when you arrive at every aid station on the course recalculates. This is the list to put in your pocket, and the one CarbRate builds your feeds on.
| mi | km | Table | What’s at the table | You arrive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4 | 3.9 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 0:21 |
| 4.9 | 7.9 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 0:42 |
| 6.5 | 10.5 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 0:56 |
| 8.9 | 14.3 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 1:16 |
| 10.5 | 16.9 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 1:30 |
| 13 | 20.9 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 1:52 |
| 15.2 | 24.5 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 2:10 |
| 16.1 | 25.9 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 2:18 |
| 18.3 | 29.5 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 2:37 |
| 19.3 | 31.1 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 2:46 |
| 22.2 | 35.7 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 3:11 |
| 23.4 | 37.7 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 3:21 |
| 25.3 | 40.7 | Aid station | waterGatorade | 3:37 |
Gatorade Thirst Quencher is 6.1 g of carbohydrate per 100 mL. A typical cup contains about 200 mL.
But, you likely won’t actually drink that much. Volunteers typically fill cups about half way to prevent water from splashing and you’ll lose a good amount as you run with the cup and what spills as you drink.
On average, you can expect a net intake of about 60 to 90 mL per cup
This is the part most runners don’t account for in their fueling plan, so CarbRate builds it directly in your plan.
We’ll tell you exactly how many cups at each aid station to drink based on how much glycogen you need and how much you’ll be able to supplement with gels.
A cup holds about 200 mL. Half-filled, spilled and sipped on the run, 60 to 90 mL of it actually goes down.
After you’ve calculated how much of the course drink you’ll likely take at each aid station, you’ll need to fill in your glycogen needs with gels along the course.
A typical gel contains about 25 g of carbohydrate, so use the chart here to calculate how many you’ll need.
If you’ve practiced fueling in training, you can target 75 to 90 g per hour. If you haven’t trained your stomach, err closer to 60 g per hour.
Here’s more on how to practice your fueling schedule to maximize your gut tolerance.
| Finish | 60 g/h | 75 g/h | 90 g/h |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:45 your goal | |||
| 3:00 | 4to5 | 6to7 | 8to9 |
| 3:30 | 5to6 | 7to8 | 9to11 |
| 4:00 | 5to5 | 8to8 | 10to10 |
| 4:30 | 6to7 | 9to9 | 11to12 |
| 5:00 | 6to8 | 9to11 | 12to14 |
The course hands you one thing: lemon-lime Gatorade at every table. Every gel in your race is one you carry, so practise with it before race day rather than on it.
CarbRate builds you a personalized race fueling plan from your own sweat rate, how your stomach handles gels, and then it coaches you through every feed, live, while you run.
It also customizes every gel and every drink placement to align with the actual elevation profile and aid station on your course.
Even carrying your own fuel, the Haunted Forest course influences 4 things about your fueling plan: the timing of your gels, fluid intake, electrolytes, and caffeine.
The common advice is to take your gels every 30 to 45 minutes, but that might not coincide with when you hit an aid station.
If you’re not carrying your own water with you, you’ll need those aid stations to wash down your gel.
For a 3:45 finisher, Haunted Forest’s tables arrive 21, 42, 56, 76 and 90 minutes in, then every 8 to 25 minutes.
So, you need to factor this into your fueling plan.
Enter your goal time in the input box below and we’ll show you when each aid station will arrive for your given pace.
If you want a fueling plan with all of these built in, CarbRate does this for you. Start building your plan here.
For a 3:45 finisher, 3 of 11 twenty-minute alarms land within 2 minutes of a table. Highlighted tables take a gel in a 75 g an hour plan; the first goes down before mile 2.4 from a bottle you carry.
| Finish | 60 g/h | 75 g/h | 90 g/h |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:45 your goal | 9 | 12 | 14 |
| 3:00 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| 3:30 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
| 4:00 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| 4:30 | 11 | 14 | 17 |
| 5:00 | 12 | 15 | 18 |
Research has shown that the optimal carbohydrate concentration is 6 to 8 percent carbohydrate to water.
That means you’ll want about 100 mL (3.5 oz) of water for every 8 grams of carbohydrate you take in. A typical gel contains 25 g of carbohydrate, so you’ll want to aim for about 300 mL (10 oz) of water with each gel.
A good estimate is that each cup of water will provide you 100 mL (3.5 oz) of water. That’s because volunteers typically fill cups about half way to prevent water from splashing and you’ll lose a good amount as you run with the cup and what spills as you drink.
So, if you’re not carrying your own water, have your gel open and prepared to take at the start of the aid station so you can take it early with a cup of water and still have time to grab another cup or two.
Gatorade Thirst Quencher carries about 460 mg of sodium per litre (110 mg per 8 oz) as the maker mixes it, and it is at every table.
Aim for 600 mg of sodium per litre (150 mg per 8 oz) of what you drink. So the cups get you most of the way there and the rest has to come from your gel or your own bottle.
If you’re carrying your own water instead, that sodium has to come from your gel or your bottle. If it’s a hot day or you’re a salty sweater, you should aim for a bit more.
CarbRate can provide your exact amount based on your individual sweat rate and can help you adjust your fueling plan if the weather is hot.
Gatorade at the tables is under the target, so the rest of your sodium has to come from your gel or your own drink.
If you plan to use caffeine, it’s best to time it so the benefits kick in when you need them the most.
Caffeine peaks in your blood about an hour after you swallow it, then it slowly falls.
In that analysis of 4.2 million marathon results, the runners who slowed sharply began to do so just before mile 18.6 (30 km).
With a goal finish time of 3:45 that would place your caffeine at mile 15.2 (24 km).
This should provide you with peak benefits from the caffeine right when you need it the most.
Blood caffeine peaks about an hour after the dose, so a mile 15.2 gel peaks near mile 22 for a 3:45 finisher, after the wall has started. In 4.2 million marathon results, the late slowdown began near mile 18.6.
CarbRate builds you a personalized race fueling plan from your own sweat rate, how your stomach handles gels, and then it coaches you through every feed, live, while you run.
It also customizes every gel and every drink placement to align with the actual elevation profile and aid station on your course.
This is a real CarbRate plan rather than an example we wrote out: a 68 kg runner, 3:45 goal, trained stomach, drinking the Gatorade, 14 °C at the start. Adjusted finish 3:48. Target 81 g an hour, 307 g in total, as 12 feeds of 25 g.
9 of the 12 feeds land on a real Haunted Forest aid table, so there is water in your hand for every one of them.
| # | Clock | mi | Where | What |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:09 | 1.1 | No table here · mile 1.1 (water in hand) | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 2 | 0:22 | 2.5 | Aid station · mile 2.4 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 3 | 0:43 | 5.0 | Aid station · mile 4.9 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 4 | 1:06 | 7.7 | No table here · mile 7.7 (water in hand) | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 5 | 1:30 | 10.4 | Aid station · mile 10.5 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 6 | 1:52 | 12.9 | Aid station · mile 13 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 7 | 2:11 | 15.1 | Aid station · mile 15.2 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 8 | 2:21 | 16.2 | Aid station · mile 16.1 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 9 | 2:40 | 18.4 | Aid station · mile 18.3 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 10 | 3:00 | 20.7 | No table here · mile 20.7 (water in hand) | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 11 | 3:22 | 23.3 | Aid station · mile 23.4 | One 25 g gel, your own |
| 12 | 3:39 | 25.2 | Aid station · mile 25.3 | One 25 g gel, your own |
The first feed comes before the first table on purpose: CarbRate starts you early, with the water you carry from the start line. Say you are carrying your own instead and it rebuilds this same timeline with your products and more feeds, on the same tables. On race day the app calls each feed by voice as you reach it.
CarbRate builds yours from your weight, your sweat rate, your goal time, the gels you already train with, and the race-day forecast. Answer a few quick questions and it is built, with the Haunted Forest course already loaded.
These are the warnings CarbRate attaches to a Haunted Forest plan, word for word, for the 3:45 runner above.
Haunted Forest hands out no gels. Whatever you eat on this course, you are carrying — plan for all 12 feeds yourself.
Haunted Forest has Gatorade Thirst Quencher, Lemon-Lime at 6.1 g per 100 ml, which is strong. Drinking 500 ml an hour covers about 31 g/h of your 81 g/h target, and your plan has already taken that off your gels.
The longest stretch without water on Haunted Forest runs 2.9 miles, from mile 19.3 to mile 22.2. At your pace that is about 34 minutes. Carry fluid through it rather than waiting for the next table. Under 5 hours that stretch takes less than 27 minutes, and CarbRate stays quiet.
The first table is at mile 2.4. CarbRate allows 45 minutes for the opening stretch instead of the usual 27, because you start hydrated and fed. So Haunted Forest’s first 2.4 miles never trigger a warning.
Haunted Forest names lemon-lime Gatorade but never says which formula. On the standard Thirst Quencher label that is about 460 mg of sodium per litre, under the 600 mg per litre target; if the race pours Endurance Formula instead it is nearly double. The race publishes no mix ratio, so neither figure is confirmed.
Treat the course as water and carbohydrate, and bring your own sodium. CarbRate works out how much from your sweat rate and the forecast, and puts it on the same schedule as your gels.
From 15 October the start-line forecast appears here, with what it changes in your plan. On a warm day: more fluid and more sodium.
Every fact on this page in one block, for the runner who wants the answer and nothing else.
Yes. Gatorade Thirst Quencher, Lemon-Lime is at every table, mile 2.4 to mile 25.3, alongside water. Haunted Forest hands out no gels.
It depends on your carbohydrate target and how much of the course drink you take. At 75 g an hour a 3:45 finish needs about 280 g. Drinking one cup of Gatorade at every other table covers roughly 60 g of that, which leaves about 9 gels of 25 g, so carry 9. Drinking half a litre of Gatorade an hour, carry 7. The grid above works this out for any finish time.
Yes. Our course profile shows 322 ft of climbing across 26.2 miles, a net change of -6 ft, and a steepest grade of 3.3%. Nothing on the course changes where a feed should land, so even pacing and even fueling are both fair.
The race does not publish sodium figures for anything at its tables, and we could not confirm one for the on-course mix. Treat the course as water and carbohydrate and bring your own sodium plan.
Haunted Forest publishes none. The tables carry water and Gatorade and nothing else.
The first table is at mile 2.4. After that they come every 0.9 to 2.9 miles. The longest gap after the start is mile 19.3 to mile 22.2, about 4.7 km, which is 27 minutes at 4:00 pace and 33 minutes at 5:00 pace.
There are 13, at miles 2.4, 4.9, 6.5, 8.9, 10.5, 13, 15.2, 16.1, 18.3, 19.3, 22.2, 23.4 and 25.3. All 13 have water. Every one of them also has Gatorade Thirst Quencher, Lemon-Lime.
Yes. Haunted Forest does not take personal bottles from the mass field, so everything you carry starts on you at the gun, with water at every table to top a flask from. Carrying everything at 75 g an hour is 12 gels of 25 g for a 3:45 finish.
60 to 90 grams an hour, set by your body size and by how much your stomach has practised absorbing. Start at the rate you have already trained at rather than the rate you want: 90 g an hour is a target to build toward over a training cycle before you race on it.
Only for the opening 2.4 miles. The first table is at mile 2.4, about 21 minutes into a 3:45 race, and after that tables come every 0.9 to 2.9 miles. If your first feed comes before mile 2.4, carry the fluid for it from the start line.
1 to 4 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight in the 1 to 4 hours before the start, from food you have already eaten before long runs. A 68 kg runner eating 3 hours before the start needs roughly 130 to 200 g of carbohydrate.
The tables, the Gatorade and the course profile above are already in. Add your weight, goal time, sweat rate and the gels you like, and CarbRate builds your feed-by-feed plan for Haunted Forest, then calls each feed by voice on race day.
The plan is free. Live race-day guidance and the practice schedule are in the app, $9.95 a month or a one-time $49.95 Race Pass that expires after your race.