Honey Stinger Race Nutrition Review

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As the summer race season was upon me, I decided to try out new (to me) race nutrition for a 100 mile race I had planned in August, 2024. I had been running with a liquid electrolyte drink and grocery store granola bars. Knowing that I had signed up for some more competitive ultramarathons this year, I had to fine tune my race nutrition during the training cycle. I decided to order a variety of Honey Stinger products to give them a try.

Honey Stinger quickly gained popularity with their Energy Waffles. They are unique and different and provide the calories necessary to sustain long training and racing sessions. Honey Stinger also has a great line of Energy Gels, and Energy Chews, as well as protein bars for recovery. They have a great variety of products, flavors and gluten free options making them a one-stop shop for your race nutrition.

Honey Stinger products can be used by any athlete who needs a little extra boost during long workouts. This review will focus primarily on how I used Honey Stinger Race Nutrition as a runner training for a 100 mile ultramarathon.

Honey Stinger: So Much to Choose From

The Honey Stinger website does a nice job of describing their products, listing all ingredients and nutrition information. I was pleased to see that they also do a nice job of helping an athlete understand how to use their product. For those newer to race fueling or athletics in general, it is nice that Honey Stinger indicates when the product should be used: before, after or during exercise.

Honey Stinger marks each of their products so you can understand which are for preparation, performance or recovery. Since I wanted to try them all, I ordered a variety of Energy Waffles, Energy Gels, Energy Chews and Protein Bars. The items came neatly packed in their own individual boxes.

Prepare with the Honey Stinger Oat and Honey Bar

For the preparation portion of my nutrition, I chose the Honey Stinger Oat and Honey Bar. They come in two flavors: Original and Chocolate Chocolate Chip. The composition of these bars in a nut butter center, coated with caramel and rolled in oatmeal and quinoa crisps. They are super tasty and gluten free. Both bars are similar except the Chocolate Chocolate Chip is coated with cocoa powder. I love that it does not have milk chocolate to melt and make a mess.

The Oat and Honey Bars held up well in the heat. They stayed together nicely and did not make a melty mess. In the cold, they get pretty hard to bite so I would recommend storing them in an inside pocket during your colder activities. Honey Stinger packs 190 calories and 6 grams of protein in this 40 gram bar. That is a great calorie to weight ratio. I usually tried to eat one of the Oat and Honey bars about a 1/2 hour before my exercise. They sat well in my stomach and gave me enough calories for about 1.5 hours of running.

Perform With Honey Stinger

Honey Stinger offers many items to sustain your energy during runs or workouts. I gave them all a fair trial to see how well they sustained my energy during long runs. Since my longer runs can last 6-7 hours, I can’t skimp here. I’m glad I tried them all because my favorite, the Honey Waffles, was a surprise to me. I found, however, that a mix of products provided the best results for me and my stomach.

Honey Stinger Energy Chews

Energy chews are quick absorbing sugars in a super tasty nugget. These were by far the tastiest item in my race pack. The flavors are delicious and they are super easy to chew and swallow while running. Each pack carries 160 calories in a 30 gram packet. They are gluten free and you can choose from caffeinated or non-caffeinated flavors. All of them were very good.

I am used to sugary snacks and gels during my runs to sustain my blood sugar so that was not an issue for me. While I loved these best for the taste, I didn’t love the way they felt like they were “bouncing around” in my stomach while running. I did try them on a few long hikes and didn’t find that to be a problem with lower intensity activity. I would definitely give them a try because they are so darn tasty!

Honey Stinger Energy Gels

In all my years as a runner, gels have been my go to source of energy during long runs and races. When the intensity is high, I feel like they are a quick source of energy that is neat and controllable (no crumbs or melting ingredients to make a mess). The gels carry 90 calories in a 31 gram packet. They are gluten free, organic and come in caffeinated and non-caffeinated flavors.

The Honey Stinger gels are the consistency of honey. While this makes them super easy to squeeze in to your mouth while on the run, they can get messy if you aren’t careful. The packaging has a nice large tab on the top to open the package. This makes them very easy to open on the run. The packages squeeze out nice and flat don’t take up much trash space in my race vest.

Honey Stinger offers many nice flavors for their gels to give you a variety during your run. Since they are made with honey, each of them will have a strong sweetness similar to eating a spoonful of the golden goodness!

Honey Stinger Energy Waffles

If you’ve ever eaten a granola bar on a run, you will never do it again once you try the Honey Stinger Energy Waffle. They are composed of a very thin waffle sandwich with honey in between. They are flat and easy to store in a pocket. The Energy Waffles carry 140-150 calories per waffle (depending on flavor). The packaging is super thin (but tough) and does not take up much space in your trash pocket.

The Energy waffles are great to use for a no-mess energy source during rigorous activity. No worry about spills or messy chocolate. The sticky layer of honey is protected by the waffle and keeps the waffle intact, even if squished in your pocket for hours. It was easy to chew and easy to swallow. I had no stomach issues with the waffles which was fantastic! They are a great alternative if you dislike gels or to mix in once in a while to put some food in your stomach.

Recover with Honey Stinger Nut and Seed Bar

Made for recovery after hard activity, the Honey Stinger Nut and Seed Bar pack a lot into this 56 gram bar. They are made with whey protein which creates a tasty center to this bar. It is then rolled in nuts and seeds to make a delicious recovery bar. They contain 14 grams of protein and 21 grams of carbohydrates for a nice recovery combo. They taste great and maintained their shape and texture during heat and cold.

I can honestly say that these bars were so tasty, I wanted to eat them like candy bars. I held off, though, and used them as a recovery fuel when I had long travel times from the trailhead to my next meal. This is definitely something I will buy for backpacking also. There is such a huge calorie to weight ratio, It will really keep my pack weight down.

Race Day Nutrition with Honey Stinger

As I toed the line at the 2024 Leadville 100 Trail Run, I had my pack filled with Honey Stinger Energy Gels and Energy Waffles. I had already eaten my Oat and Honey bar about an hour earlier. I opted against the Energy Chews for this particular race because I knew it was going to be high intensity. While the chews taste amazing, I was afraid of them upsetting my stomach.

As I went from the day into the night, I had to add in a bit more real food (potatoes and avocado) because my stomach was feeling a little sour. This is pretty normal for an ultramarathon and not something I worried too much about. Overall, the Energy Waffles and Energy Gels treated me well during the race. The gels were sweeter than I had used in the past which did give me a little “gel fatigue” after 18 hours of running on sweets. Otherwise, Honey Stinger took me to the end of my race.

Racing 100 miles is a pretty extreme way to put a fueling strategy to the test. I have no doubt that if you gave them a try, you would be so happy with your performance using Honey Stinger. The Energy Gels were fast absorbing, quick energy. The Energy Waffles put some food in my belly so I didn’t feel hungry but also have a fast absorbing burst of energy when needed. Overall, I think it was a fueling success!!

Fuel your next race, adventure or workout with Honey Stinger’s amazing selection. Their prices are very reasonable compared to competitors and you can get everything you need in one place. For more info or to check some of their products out for yourself, visit honeystinger.com or amazon.com.