Best Gel Alternatives for Runners: Chews, Bars, and Drinks Tested

Introduction

Not everyone gets on with gels. They can be sickly, sticky, and repetitive over a long race, which is why so many runners end up hunting for alternatives. This roundup covers nine gel substitutes across three formats: chews, drink mixes, and bars, plus a bonus option that surprises a lot of people.

For reference, everything here is compared to a standard gel in terms of calories and carbohydrates, so you can see how each option stacks up. Nutrition is personal: what works for one runner may not work for you, so treat this as a starting point for building your own plan.

Energy Chews

Chews are essentially small blocks of jelly, much like sweets. The upside is that they taste good, they are very sweet and moreish, and you do not have to eat a whole pack at once, so you can reseal and save the rest. The downsides: they get stuck in your teeth, they can be fiddly to get out of the packaging, and they get sticky on your hands. They also work best with water; if you are dehydrated they become harder to get down.

Clif Shot Bloks

Clif Shot Bloks are extremely popular, and for good reason. A pack comes in at about 188 calories and 46 grams of carbs, roughly two gels worth, and it is gluten-free and vegan at around £2.99 per pack. They are chewy but you can get them down quickly, and popping one block at a time from the resealable pack is genuinely convenient mid-run. They have proven themselves in trail racing and ultras repeatedly. The main trade-offs are the price and the chewiness, plus the usual sticky fingers. A solid 8 out of 10.

Veloforte Energy Chews (Apple & Cinnamon)

Veloforte’s apple and cinnamon chews land at about 179 calories and 44 grams of carbs per pack, again roughly two gels worth, gluten-free and vegan at around £2.29. They come with a light dusting of icing sugar, are nicely gooey, and taste great with a strong, smooth flavour that is nowhere near as cloying sweet as most chews. The drawback is the packaging: they are harder to get into and awkward to reseal if you only want a couple, which marks them down slightly. Still, 7 out of 10.

Sports Beans

Sports Beans are exactly what they sound like: jelly beans for sport. At about 100 calories and 25 grams of carbs per pack, roughly 28 grams in weight at around £1.90, a whole pack equals one gel, so the carb and calorie figures are much lower per pack than the others. They are gluten-free and vegan and taste like standard jelly beans. These suit the trail market best, where you can stop, get something out of your pack, and eat. They are fiddly to open, and if you drop one on the floor, it is gone. Fine for beginners or slower pace, less practical for hard racing. Around 5 out of 10.

Drink Mixes: Maurten Drink Mix 160 and Tailwind

Drink mixes let you hydrate and refuel at the same time, digest easily because there is nothing to chew, and work well for carb loading the day before a race. They are a bit of a faff to open mid-run and are hard to use during fast road races, but if you carry a pack and refill your bottles as you go, they shine. Many ultra races, especially in the UK, stock Tailwind at aid stations.

One practical tip: fill your bottle with water first, then add the powder, then shake. Pouring powder into an empty bottle just leaves it sitting at the bottom.

Tailwind

Tailwind is a big favourite among runners. A single-serve pack delivers about 200 calories and 50 grams of carbs, around two gels worth, mixed in roughly 500 ml of water, at about £2.10, with larger packs available. It is pretty vegan and includes electrolytes, and the brand’s claim is that you can fuel a race purely on liquid with it. Many races put it out at aid stations. It is genuinely a good product; the only caveat here is personal taste preference on the flavour tried, which is easily fixed by adding a splash of orange juice. 7 out of 10.

Maurten Drink Mix 160

Maurten Drink Mix 160 is a white powder that turns into a more gel-like substance in water. It provides about 160 calories and 39 grams of carbs per serving, roughly one and a half gels worth, is pretty vegan, and costs around £2.28. There is also a double-strength 320 version. The taste is almost nonexistent: very bland with a slight sugary note, which is exactly why it works so well during hard efforts. It has been a go-to carb-loading drink the day before and morning of races for a long time, with no stomach complaints. For some people the blandness is a downside; for others it is the whole point. 10 out of 10.

Bars

Bars trade convenience for volume: big calories and big amounts of carbs in one hit. They are great for longer runs where you can tuck one into a pack and graze on it, and they double as a solid pre-run breakfast in a pinch. The catch is dryness: if you are even slightly dehydrated, bar can sit in your mouth and refuse to go down, so always pair it with a proper drink.

Clif Bar

Clif Bar needs little introduction, with a huge range of flavours so you can find one you really like. A bar delivers about 266 calories and 36 grams of carbs, roughly two gels worth, vegan at around £1.99, though not gluten-free. It is not too sticky on the hands and works well for long runs. The main issue is that it is fairly dry, so you need to be well hydrated to get through it comfortably. 7 out of 10.

Striker Bar (Dark Chocolate Chip)

The Striker Bar dark chocolate chip flavour is a Rice Krispie-style bar, and it is packed: about 260 calories and 53 grams of carbs, roughly two gels worth, gluten-free and vegan at around £2.49, weighing 75 grams. It is dense and on the heavier side, but the rice cereal texture makes it feel light in the mouth with a nice gooeyness, and crucially it is not too dry, so it goes down far more easily than a traditional oat bar. A newer brand that has quickly become a favourite. The downsides are the price and the packaging, which is not resealable. The runaway winner at 9.5 out of 10.

Maurten Solid 225

Maurten’s bar, the Solid 225 (named for its 225 gram… actually 60 grams of product per serving), comes in a light cocoa flavour and a dark one. It offers about 45 grams of carbs, roughly two gels worth, gluten-free and pretty vegan at around £2.50. The packaging works well: you can break off a piece and fold the rest back into the pack. The taste is pleasant, like honey and corn flakes, but it is very sweet and very sticky, and getting it all over your fingers mid-race is annoying. At the price, the gels from the same brand arguably work better. 6 out of 10.

Lucho D Gupta Guava Bar (Lucho Dellido)

From Colombian company Lucho Dellido, this guava bar is wrapped in leaves and delivers about 136 calories and 25 grams of carbs, roughly one gel, in a small 40 gram package at around £1.50, gluten-free and vegan. The texture is almost watermelon-like and crystally, the classic guava flavour is super sweet but not overpowering, and it is genuinely enjoyable. It is a bit of a pain to get into, and after a while it could get sickly, so it is not something to eat repeatedly over a long day. 7 out of 10.

Bonus Option: Baby Food Pouches

Here is the one many runners never think of: baby food pouches. Ultra runners swear by them. One picked up from a supermarket for about 60p contained organic banana puree, apple puree, and lemon juice, nothing else, so it is gluten-free and suitable for vegans.

It works out to around 95 calories and 21 grams of carbs, about the same as a gel. It is natural, really easy to digest, and the smooth texture goes down effortlessly. On a long ultra, being able to rotate flavours and avoid getting bored of the same taste all day is a genuine advantage. The environmental trade-off is that these pouches contain a lot of plastic, though some people make their own versions at home.

Buying Advice

A few takeaways for building your own fueling plan:

• For trail running and ultras, chews like Clif Shot Bloks and drink mixes like Maurten 160 are the workhorses, easy to portion and easy on the stomach.
• For a bar that does not dry your mouth out, the Striker Bar stands out with big calories and carbs in a texture that goes down easily.
• If you prefer liquid-only fueling, Tailwind’s stats are excellent and it appears at many ultra aid stations, and Maurten Drink Mix 160 is the low-flavour option for those who want nothing but fuel.
• For a natural, budget-friendly experiment, a fruit puree pouch costs pennies and delivers gel-equivalent carbs.

The best advice is to try lots of different things in training before race day. What works for one runner may not work for you.

Conclusion

There is life beyond the gel. Chews offer sweetness and portion control, drinks combine hydration with fueling, bars deliver serious calories, and even a supermarket baby food pouch can do the job of a gel for a fraction of the price. Test a few in training, keep what works, and race day fueling stops being a gamble.