Can You Replace Running Gels with Halloween Candy?

Published October 29, 2024 10:36AM

It’s Halloween, which means there’s an abundance of candy laying around. I have some sitting on my counter right now, in fact, for guests to munch on—only after I ate all the Almond Joys out of the bowl.

Most people would assume that there’s no Venn diagram where candy and running overlap, but “most people” wouldn’t know that ultrarunning GOAT Courtney Dauwalter occasionally munches on Pear-flavored jelly beans during races. She’s a candy fiend, also vocal about her affection for Mike and Ikes, Dots, and Sour Patch Kids. Leadville Trail 100 champ Clare Gallagher buys her mid-run Sour Patch Kids in bulk. But it’s not just ultrarunners who dip into the candy jar. Two-time Olympian and Boston Marathon champ Des Linden has also been known to snack on sweets before a race—let’s not talk about the time she startled the world when she absolutely mutilated—I mean, ate a Kit-Kat…in a totally…normal…way…

Suffice it to say, there are those who swear that popping a few gummy bears during a long run gives them the same energy boost as a gel. While I’ve tested how it feels to fuel with whole foods, I’ve never packed candy in my running vest. To me, it seems too far-fetched that sweet treats can help our running practice, but let’s look at the facts.

This review is based on my own personal taste and experience running on the roads. If Halloween candy is your jam, I highly recommend you test this fueling strategy out for yourself on whatever running surfaces you enjoy

Is All Sugar Created Equally?

American College of Sports Medicine recommends runners consume 30-60 grams of carbs per hour for any run lasting longer than 90 minutes. Popular gels Gu and Hüma both contain 100 calories and 22g of carbs, which isn’t too far off from many candies in my Halloween bucket.

Matthew Kadey, MS, is a Canada-based nutrition registered dietitian and author of Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sports+Adventure. He’s also an avid endurance athlete himself.

“Certainly the various types of candy can serve as an effective fuel source for exercise,” he says. “The sugar content can provide the same fast energy source as engineered sports products like gels. Besides, candy is typically much more enjoyable to eat and can help deal with palate fatigue. I think most of us will look more forward to stuffing in a fistful of gummy bears than sucking back a gel.”

Straight from the expert’s mouth. Candy = fuel, right? However, Kadey has some warnings to heed.

“The sugar content of candy varies widely, so you need to know how much you are getting,” he says. “Some candy will provide fewer carb calories than gels, so you need more to get the amount of simple carbs to have a performance benefit. Some candy may provide a dose of carbs that could be problematic to untrained guts that may lead to gastro issues.”

He adds that many products are also lower in sodium compared to sports nutrition products, so you need to make sure you’re getting those electrolytes somewhere else. And if you are going to eat candy on your run, he recommends feasting on candy that’s mostly pure carbs (sugar) like gummy bears, Twizzlers, and Sour Patch Kids.

Eric McIntyre, CPT and certified running coach based in Utah, agrees that sometimes gels and candy aren’t all that different.

“Your body’s preferred energy source is carbohydrates, and when you’re exercising and your body is under that kind of stress, it’s going to be looking for the most easily accessible fuel source, which is going to be simple carbs or sugars,” he says. “I love using candy in training, but in racing, having to eat something like four, five, or six pieces of candy in order to get the same amount of sugar or carbs from one gel is just not going to be convenient and easy.”

He adds that you’re also taking a risk that the additives in candy might mess with your stomach.

“In addition, some gels have a glucose and fructose mix which maximizes the amount of carbohydrates that your body can process.”

Below, I did a nutritional breakdown of a few fan-favorites, as well as my honest thoughts on how they tasted/performed during my long runs.

*Note: I’m not in an aggressive training block, therefore all “long” runs I tested these candies on ranged from 6-12 miles on the roads.

Hüma

GU Energy Gels

Swedish Fish

Swedish Fish are delicious, but I didn’t love the fact that I had to eat about six pieces to reach 30g of carbs. I want my fuel to be low volume, and it took me a bit to get through this school of snacks. Plus, I found they got stuck in my molars so my tongue was doing backflips for the rest of the run to get stuff unstuck. Maybe most of the candy was left behind in my teeth, because I didn’t feel as energized as I wanted to with these. One bonus: they’re coated in wax, so you can put them directly into your vest pocket without them gumming up and getting melty.

Twizzlers

Twizzlers are another easy, seemingly unmeltable candy I can stick in my running vest. I had no problem chowing down on three strands of these, and they weren’t overly sweet, so I didn’t get that parched feeling after too much sugar. Plus, they have a decent amount of sodium, so a win for Twizzlers! Pro tip: I held all three in my hand and chomped down at the same time like one Twizzler banana.

Sour Patch Kids

Speaking of parched, I should have known Sour Patch Kids were going to be an issue. I’m not a sour-inclined person, so I was puckering up while mowing through 12 pieces. Plus, the little granules of sugar stuck to my sweaty fingers and got me all sticky, which I wasn’t a fan of. I definitely reaped the sugar buzz rewards, though, and felt great on my run.

Three Musketeers Fun Size

I was so hoping some kind of chocolate would work for me, but fun size Three Musketeers didn’t provide much fun to my run. While the carb and sugar count line up with a gel, the chocolate itself didn’t sit well with my stomach. I got a cramp shortly after and felt some churning and burning. They were the easiest to eat, however, being perfect bite-sized pieces.

Starburst

First and foremost—I only eat pink Starburst. Don’t ask me to trade for your yellow or red, I’m not interested. Secondly, these little squares were not great running fuel. You only have to eat six for 24g of carbs and 16g of sugar, but they’re hard. It took me forever to get through just one because I wanted to chew it really well—hello, eating something hard and running is a recipe for a disaster.

Mini Twix

Talk about scary—have you ever had Mini Twix bars melt in your running vest? Well, I did. It might’ve been due to the day’s heat, which is a factor out of my control, but each of these Mini Twix bars melted through their wrappers, so chocolate got all over my fingers. If they hadn’t melted, however, they would have been decent fuel. I enjoyed the layers of cookies over the nougat in the Three Musketeers, but still got some digestive distress.

Branch’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins

Full disclosure, I’m obsessed with this Halloween-specific candy. And I loved it even more out on my long run. Initially, I went to the store looking for Candy Corn, but stumbled upon these classic pumpkins instead. I only needed to eat four pieces to get all the carbs, calories, and sugar I need. And they’re delicious.

A Bittersweet Conclusion

There are a lot of reasons to eat Halloween candy, but in my opinion, for the purpose of fueling runs isn’t the best one. There are so many products out there that replicate exactly what we need, while candy just slightly misses the mark. As both experts in this article point out, candy isn’t always easy to consume, the volume isn’t ideal, and depending on the type, you’re not always going to get the right sugar and carb content that digests properly.

If I was going to continue using candy on my long runs, I’d opt for Mellowcreme Pumpkins (which, you’d be hard-pressed to find during a spring marathon training block) or Twizzlers. Both were easy enough to eat, gentle on my stomach, and gave me a heck of a sugar rush.