The NYC Marathon Gear Our Community Swears By

This article references in-kind partners supporting the Beyond Type Run team on race day.

The New York City (NYC) Marathon takes place every November, coinciding with National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM). This year, the Beyond Type Run marathon team is back with some of their favorite picks to help them get through training and, ultimately, race day!

If you’re a marathon runner living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), this guide will help you choose the best gear for your workouts. Or, if you’re an aspiring marathon runner or dream of joining us for the race one day, this gear list is a great place to start!

Low blood sugar treatments

If you live with a form of insulin-dependent diabetes, whether that’s type 1 or type 2 diabetes, low blood sugars are undoubtedly on your mind. Even the most well-trained marathon runners can run into them. Lowering your basal (long-acting) insulin dose for the big day—under your healthcare provider’s (HCP) guidance—can help prevent them, but it’s always better to be prepared for lows than to assume they won’t happen.

Our marathon team loves these low blood sugar treatments while running, and they’re sure you will, too:

• Glow Glucose Gummies: these glucose gummies are new to the diabetes space and they’re taking off for a good reason. They come in a variety of flavors and easy-to-carry pouches, making them perfect for on-the-go. Razzleberry just landed, and you can also find other flavors like our limited edition Beyond Type 1 Blackberry Lemonade, Black Raspberry, Strawberry or Mango.
  
• ZAP glucose tablets: these are also new to the diabetes space and are making waves. They’re glucose tablets breaking the mold, with no chalky texture and a cool flavor variety, including Yuzu.
  
• Uncommon low snacks: glucose gummies, powders, gels and tablets are great, but our marathon runners need more than fast-acting sugar to feel at ease on race day. Some hypo snacks they’re loving include:
  • That’s It real fruit bars
  • Fruit snacks (Mott’s and Welch’s are favorites among the team)
  • Applesauce pouches
  • Nerds gummy clusters
    
• Running gels: Maurten and PowerGel have become runners’ favorites. Even runners without diabetes use them to stay on top of their game during training and race days! Yes, even those with working pancreases still need a little sugar boost sometimes, just not for the same reasons people with diabetes (PWD) do.

Hydration helpers

Hydration is key to overall diabetes management, especially during an intense activity like a marathon. Water is, of course, the best solution, but what you add to it matters. 

Here are some methods our runners follow to quench their thirst and focus on race day:

• Buoy hydration drops
• Ultima Mix
• Saltstix Capsules
• Gatorade Zero
• ReLyte in watermelon lime or lemon lime

Continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump accessories

During intense exercise, your diabetes devices can be harder to keep attached or secure. Sweat, stress, bumping into random objects (or people) can all happen on marathon day. Sometimes, even while training near home.

That’s why the Beyond Type Run team loves accessories like these to make sure they don’t have to worry about their tech falling off or getting loose on race day:

• Not Just a Patch CGM overlay patches
  
• Casely: these phone cases can protect perhaps your most important tech of all—your phone. If you manage any part of your diabetes with your cell, this is a must.

CGMs and insulin pumps are the key to survival for many runners with diabetes and are not to be messed with!

Apparel and shoes

Proper footwear and apparel are a must on race day, especially when you live with diabetes. It’s pretty much hammered into every person with T1D since diagnosis to protect your feet! 

When it comes to making sure that’s the case, our runners love:

• Protective socks: like Feetures or Bombas
• Sunglasses: you have to protect your eyes with diabetes—Goodr is a runner favorite
• Shorts: Janji
• Shoes: it’s highly recommended to get fitted at an actual running store ahead of race day and track how many miles you put in your shoes—our team recommends getting fitted at Road Runner in NYC, but they’re available in various locations across the United States (U.S.)
• Gear belt: Spibelt and FlipBelt are great for storing everything you need to feel comfortable and confident running big races like the NYC Marathon with diabetes

Having the right running gear matters with diabetes

If you live with any form of diabetes, you know better than most that preparation matters. Diabetes thrives on routine. While a marathon is probably outside that routine, you can control how you prepare: how many hours you train, how different runs affect your levels, which foods support your runs, plus which tech and supplies are must-haves versus nice-to-haves.

You’re doing the work that will make race day less about diabetes and more about showing up and hitting your stride. It’s not just about chasing that runner’s high—it’s about finding your diabetes flow state! The right products make a huge difference. Based on what we’ve heard from our runners, this is clear.

Disclosure: The Beyond Type Run marathon team is made possible in part through the in-kind support of That’s It, Buoy Hydration, Not Just a Patch, and Casely. Beyond Type 1 retains complete, independent editorial control over all content. 

Want to run with us next year? Bookmark this page and subscribe to our email updates—that way, when applications open in 2027, you can be the first to know and apply.