Doing An Ironman? Here’s What To Expect At An Aid Station

Ever wondered what to expect at an IRONMAN aid station? We take you behind the scenes at IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella to show you exactly what’s on offer and how to grab it like a pro—on both the bike and the run. Plus, get essential tips to stay fuelled, hydrated, and avoid rookie mistakes on race day!

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 Welcome to Aid Station HQ
00:16 Bike Aid Station Explained
01:39 Inside the Aid Station – Step-by-Step Walkthrough
03:30 Pro Secrets for a Smooth Grab-and-Go
04:16 Run Aid Station Explained
05:26 Fuel Up Right – What to Grab and Why
06:09 Slow is fast!

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i’m standing at your typical Iron Man a station and today I’m going to run you through exactly what you should expect to find on race [Music] day an aid station provides nutritional aid on course during the race and of course the first thing you’re going to encounter is on the bike and unless your name is Kip Chokei I imagine you’re going to be coming through one of these a lot quicker on the bike than you will on the run so it’s worthwhile knowing exactly what you are going to encounter before you get there now first and foremost you do not have to get off your bike as you come through one of these A stations unless you want to of course the volunteers are well trained to hand off and pass you everything you need but not at 50 km an hour give them and yourself the best chance possible and slow down as you approach one of these now Iron Man do try to help you out here and they put the A stations at good points on the course like as you crest a climb or on a nice open stretch rather than a fast descent and they have plenty of these on course there’ll be between two to four maybe even more A stations on course that you will pass multiple occasions so you’ll be hitting an A station every 20 to 30 km right so we’ve actually been given access to the A stations here on course at IMAN 70.3 Marbay in fact host to the 2025 Iron Man 70.3 World Championship so what you will see here on course is reflective of the A stations currently here in Europe but may differ obviously by continent and with time with regards to the brands that you’ll see and the products there so do check beforehand so let’s run you through this aid station from start to finish now currently we’re in what’s called the litter zone actually starts a little bit further back there you’ll hit this before entering all the aid stations now in case you weren’t aware you cannot litter on course during an Iron Man or Iron Man 70.3 event so if you want to make space in your pockets before coming through here now is the time then the first aid that you’ll hit is just good old plain water and then we’ll hit electrolyte drinks to replenish sodium levels and fluid to keep you obviously nicely hydrated so here we’ve got precision fuel and hydration pH1000 diluted into water actually in a bike bottle and then you’ll find additional food so this will vary from course to course you’ll typically find some fruit some salty snacks here we’ve got bananas now I do appreciate you might be trying to stick to sort of your sports nutrition but some real food like this can be good for staving off that flavor fatigue but it is worth practicing this before you get to a race so here we hit energy bars so we’ve got the Morton Solid C160 bars being handed out here and then we hit electrolyte drinks again ph1000 in the bike bottles and our final a station water and then we’re back into the litter zone so if you want to get rid of any final waste this is the time to do it and you have to get rid of it before the end of that litter zone now you will have noticed that the tables are nicely spaced out so giving you plenty of opportunity to grab what you should need and loads of time to do so also you notice we got some portaloos in the A station should you need to stop whilst coming through and in some A stations you’ll also find tech support and maybe even a penalty temp but hopefully you don’t end up there now I’ve been through a fair few of these in my time so I thought I’d share a couple of tips from experience now as you approach an aid station try to leave some space between yourself and any other athletes that might be near you as you approach that and then come up as close alongside the volunteers as possible and safely as possible now normally the volunteers will be shouting out what they are holding and it’s probably a good idea to let them know what you’re after so you might want to shout water yes hell yeah whatever you like and rather than smashing bottles out of every volunteers’s hand another little tip for you hold your arm outstretched in front of you connect with that bottle for the volunteer and then almost try to match the speed that you’re passing them so you can gracefully take the bottle for from them and if you don’t succeed on the first one just slow down and grab one for the next yes you’re off the bike you’re on to the run and you’re pleased to hear that a stations are plenty on the run in fact here at IMAN 70.3 Marbar they’re 2.25 km apart roughly give or take so you’re never that far from one you also be pleased to hear that they are very similar to the bike so no surprises when you come through the run aid stations now first off again you’ll hit the litter zone i’m stood in it right now you know the drill here and then you’ll get to the water these are in cups now and then we get the electrolytes PH1000 in cups again and then we’ve got energy gels we’ve got the Morton gel 100s then we got the gel 100 caffeinated options and then we’ve got a variety of just normal foods so on the run course here in Marbar we’ve got some bananas and orange segments and then onto cola and we’ve got some more water and then on some aid stations you might find they have sponges which you can grab dunk in the water use to cool down you can actually take the sponges with you stuff them under your hat in your suit and then dunk them again at the next aid station and then we have the litter zone again so your opportunity to get rid of all your last litter before speeding off on the run course oh and I should probably add we’ve got more portaloos now to better understand what you’re taking on and why I’ve brought in an actual doctor Dr sam so we’ve got electrolytes on course PH1000 which is a low calorie drink and a question we get from time to time is why just an electrolyte drink and not an energy drink yeah so for 70.3 and IM events it can be quite useful to separate out your hydration so your fluid and sodium intake from your carbohydrate or fueling strategy so this means that when we have hot days like we’re experiencing today you can increase your fluid and sodium intake without affecting your carbohydrate intake and so then you should mitigate against the risk of experiencing any uh GI issues for example now early on in the event it feels like every second matters and my biggest bit of advice for you to take home now is take your time through the AS particularly so on the run and particularly so if this is your first time it’s more important that you stay on top of your hydration and your fueling to avoid expending huge amounts of time later on when things potentially fall apart it’s maybe not a bad idea to slow the pace right down through the A stations maybe even walk there we go you are a station ready now best of luck in your upcoming triathlon if you need any more triathlon advice and tips don’t forget to check us out on GTN and hopefully see you next