JRF Half Marathon 2026

Race-week eating

Not a feast — a tilt to carbohydrate, Thu + Fri. A small scale rise is glycogen water, not fat.

Wed dinner — tilt to carbohydrate: rice, noodles, bread up; oil and fibre down
Thu — carbs at every meal. Reduce fibre deliberately — no beans, peel the fruit
Fri — last substantial meal at lunch. Dinner early, small, boring

The common error is eating more, not eating differently. A heavy Friday dinner before a 01:50 alarm is worse than being slightly under-loaded.

Breakfast

40–60 g familiar carbohydrates, 15 minutes after the alarm — 1¾ h or more before your gun. Low fibre, low fat. Nothing you have not eaten before a run. The gap is your toilet window.

Works	Avoid
White bread + jam or honey	Anything wholegrain or high-fibre
Plain white rice	Fried food, coconut milk, heavy sauces
Banana	Large dairy servings
Plain biscuits	Anything not eaten before a run before

Coffee only if it is your habit. Not the day to start it, not the day to stop it.
300–500 ml with breakfast, then stop — sips after that buy nothing but a toilet queue.

Gels — by kilometre

3 timed gels — one in the , two at stations. Clocks below are yours: they follow your target, and sliders.

Gel	Where	Your clock	Why
1	start · T−15′ before your gun	04:20:00	your own — the first Strive station is not until km 7
2	km 7 · just south of the Bundaran HI ring, northbound	05:23:34	Strive station — the race's official gel
3	km 15 · Gatot Subroto at Satria Mandala, return side	06:20:08	Strive station — the race's official gel

Take every gel at a station, with water. A gel is hyperosmolar — without water it pulls fluid into the gut. The nearest station wins over the exact kilometre.

Use a gel you have already tried in training. Nothing new on race day. How many gels you need depends on you and on what your gel carries — check its label and practise the schedule on long runs. No amounts are prescribed here — not medical advice.

Drinking

#	km	your clock	note
1	2.5	04:52:17	hydration station
2	5.0	05:09:34	hydration station
3	7.5	05:27:04	hydration station
4	10.0	05:44:33	hydration station
5	12.5	06:02:19	hydration station
6	15.0	06:20:08	hydration station · gel here
7	16.5	06:30:55	hydration station
8	18.0	06:41:44	hydration station
9	19.5	06:52:34	hydration station · optional — 1.6 km out

Drink at the stations — how much is yours to learn in training. Fluid needs vary too much between runners for Race Buddy to prescribe volumes. On a hot morning, slow down and take an extra cup.