Creatine helps runners sprint, surge and lift. It does not make marathon pace faster on its own. Here is what the research says for each distance, and where the gym comes in.

The short answer

Creatine has a gym reputation. Tubs the size of paint buckets, people who say "gains". So runners tend to ignore it.

That is a pity, because the research is more interesting than the image. It is also less dramatic than some supplement ads suggest. Creatine will not make you a faster marathoner by itself. It can help with the parts of running that are short, hard and repeated, and with the strength work that supports everything else.

The rest of this post goes through each row, with the studies behind it.

How creatine works, in one minute

Your muscles run on a molecule called ATP. You only store enough of it for a few seconds of all-out effort and to keep going, the body has to rebuild ATP quickly. Its fastest tool for that is phosphocreatine, a form of creatine stored in muscle (Kreider et al., 2017).

Taking creatine as a supplement raises those stores by roughly 20%, even in people who eat a lot of meat (meat is one of a very few sources of creatine) (Forbes et al., 2023). With more phosphocreatine, you rebuild ATP a little faster during hard efforts and recover a little quicker between them.

This system matters most in efforts that last seconds, not hours. In a 100m sprint it does much of the work. In a marathon, nearly all your energy comes from burning carbohydrate and fat with oxygen, and phosphocreatine plays a small part.

That mechnism explains most of what follows.

Sprints and short distances

Creatine's link with running is older than most people think. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Linford Christie won the 100 m and said openly that he used creatine, which was allowed in competition then and still is (American Council on Science and Health). Sprinters have used it ever since.

The studies mostly back them up:

• In 18 trained sprinters, creatine cut 100 m time from 11.68 to 11.59 seconds. It also made them faster across six repeated 60 m sprints. The placebo group did not change (Skare et al., 2001). Maybe 0.09 sec. doesn't sound huge but that's the gap between 1st and 7th at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
• In 20 amateur runners, six days of creatine improved 100 m time, but not 200 m time (Faraji et al., 2010). What we don't like in this study is how short it was - full results you normally see after 4 weeks of regular supplementation.
• A meta-analysis of 14 placebo-controlled trials found that creatine raised average power across repeated sprints (Glaister & Rhodes, 2022).
• A 2025 analysis of 35 trials in athletes found that creatine combined with training reduced sprint times (Deng et al., 2025).

Not every study agrees. One trial in highly trained sprinters and another in 42 active men found no change in repeated 30–40 m sprints after about a week of creatine (Delecluse et al., 2003; Glaister et al., 2006). The 2022 meta-analysis also found no effect on peak power or on how quickly people tired. But here again we need to point the length of those studies - one week is not enough to properly load your muscles with creatine, especially during high intensity training camp when your body uses loads of energy every day.

So the fair summary is this: for short sprints and sprint sessions, creatine tends to help. A tenth of a second over 100 m sounds small. Ask any sprinter how it feels to lose by that much.

One note for later: most of these studies used a short "loading" dose of about 20 g a day. Runners have a good reason to do it differently, which we cover in the dosing section.

Middle distances: surges and the finishing kick

Races are rarely run at one steady pace. Someone surges at halfway. There is a hill. The last 300 metres turn into a sprint whether you planned it or not.

This is where creatine gets interesting for distance runners. A 2023 review led by Scott Forbes looked at creatine across endurance sports and reached a split verdict. Results for steady time trials are mixed. But creatine appears to help in efforts with repeated surges and in the final sprint, which is often where races are decided (Forbes et al., 2023).

Three examples from that review:

• Rowers on creatine were about 2.3 seconds faster over 1,000 m. Most of the gain came in the last 400 m (Rossiter et al., 1996).
• Well-trained cyclists in a 120 km time trial did not finish faster overall with creatine. They did produce more power in the closing sprints (Tomcik et al., 2018).
• Highly trained athletes who alternated easy and hard efforts every three minutes lasted 36.5 minutes after creatine loading, up from 29.9.

A caveat: most of this evidence comes from cyclists and rowers, who sit on something. Running-specific trials are few. Still, if your race is an 800 m, a 1,500 m, a fast 5 km or a parkrun you plan to win on the last straight, this is the part of the research that applies to you.

Long distances: what creatine won't do, and where it helps

Here is the part some creatine brands skip. In 2023, researchers pooled 13 placebo-controlled studies of creatine and endurance performance in trained athletes. The result was no meaningful effect (Fernández-Landa et al., 2023).

The likely reason is weight. Creatine pulls water into muscle. After a loading phase, people are on average about 0.8 kg heavier (Glaister & Rhodes, 2022). On a bike, the saddle carries that. On a run, you do. In one early study, runners who loaded creatine gained about 0.9 kg and were slower over a 6 km course than runners on placebo (Balsom et al., 1993, summarised in Forbes et al., 2023). So if your only goal is a faster marathon time, creatine is not a shortcut. We would rather tell you that than sell you a tub.

That said, there are three reasons long-distance runners still look at it.

Recovery. Runners who took creatine for five days before a 30 km race had lower markers of muscle damage and inflammation afterwards than runners on placebo (Santos et al., 2004, summarised in Wax et al., 2021). A similar pattern showed up in athletes after a half-Ironman (Bassit et al., 2008). Whether this adds up to better training over months has not been tested yet.

Fuel storage. Taken with carbohydrate, creatine helps muscles store more glycogen, the fuel that runs low late in long races (Forbes et al., 2023; Wax et al., 2021).

Heat. There is an old belief that creatine causes cramps and dehydration. Controlled studies do not support it (Antonio et al., 2021). In one, trained men exercised for an hour in the heat before and after creatine loading. Core temperature and sweat loss were the same (Weiss & Powers, 2006).

This is also the thinking behind nudge move. One stick has 5 g of creatine, 1.5 g of L-carnitine and the minerals you lose in sweat: sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride (Baker, 2017).

Two things we should be clear about. Electrolytes do not make creatine absorb better. They are in the same drink because it is one less thing to remember after a long run. And L-carnitine is promising supplement allowing you to get more energy from stored fat (Wall et al., 2011; Fielding et al., 2018). We added it because we believe in it (but we might be wrong).

The gym effect: train harder, run better

There is another way to look at all this. Maybe the question is not "does creatine make me run faster?" but "does creatine help me train in a way that makes me run faster?"

Strength training is one of the better-proven ways to improve as a distance runner. A 2024 meta-analysis of 31 studies found that lifting heavy and jump training both improve running economy in middle- and long-distance runners. Better economy means you use less energy at a given pace (Llanos-Lagos et al., 2024).

And strength training is where creatine works best. A meta-analysis of 60 studies found that it improves leg strength (Lanhers et al., 2015). A 2025 analysis of 69 trials found that people who combined creatine with resistance training added about 5.6 kg more to their squat than people who trained on placebo (Nutrients, 2025).

Put the two together and the logic is simple. Creatine helps you get more out of gym sessions, and gym sessions help you run more efficiently. The same goes for interval sessions on the track, which are repeated hard efforts with short rests. 

Eric Rawson, a professor who researches creatine, put it this way in Runner's World: "where creatine shines is as a training aid."

One caution. Each link in that chain is well supported, but nobody has yet run the full experiment: runners, gym work, creatine or placebo, race times at the end. The Forbes review says it is still unclear whether creatine adds to the benefits of strength training in endurance athletes (Forbes et al., 2023). It is a reasonable bet, not a proven result.

Who benefits most, and how to take it

Some runners have more to gain than others:

• People who eat little or no meat. Creatine in food comes mainly from meat and fish, so vegetarians and vegans start with lower stores and tend to respond more (Kreider et al., 2017).
• Women. A 2021 review found that creatine improves strength and performance in women without marked changes in body weight (Smith-Ryan et al., 2021).
• Runners who lift or do intervals at least once a week. That is where the effect has the most to work with.

If you want to try it, the practical side is short.

1. Skip the loading phase. The Forbes review advises runners against it, because of the quick water weight. A steady 3–5 g a day fills your muscles in about four weeks instead of one (Forbes et al., 2023).
2. Take it every day, rest days included. Pick a time you will remember. Having it with a meal or a carbohydrate snack after training makes sense, since that is how the glycogen effect was studied.
3. Don't panic at the scale. If your weight goes up a little in the first weeks, that is water in muscle, not fat (Antonio et al., 2021).
4. Racing a marathon and counting every gram? Some runners use creatine through the training block and stop a few weeks before race day. Muscle stores take about four to six weeks to return to baseline (Kreider et al., 2017). No trial has tested this approach, so treat it as a personal choice.
5. Check with a doctor if you have kidney disease or take regular medication. For healthy people, creatine is one of the most studied supplements there is, with studies of up to five years finding no harm (Kreider et al., 2017).

If mixing powder is the thing that will stop you, start with nudge creatine gummies. Three a day give you 4.5 g, with no loading and no shaker. For many runners that is the easiest way to find out whether creatine suits them.

If you already drink something after long runs, a stick of nudge move covers the daily dose there.

The bottom line

Creatine is not a marathon shortcut. It is a well-studied way to get a bit more out of sprints, surges, intervals and gym sessions, and the early research on recovery after long races is encouraging. Most amateur runners do a bit of everything, so that is a decent list.

Start small, stay consistent, and judge it after a couple of months of training, not after one race. Gummies are the easy way in. move is for when you want creatine and electrolytes in one drink after a run.

Sources

1. Kreider RB et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2017. Link
2. Forbes SC et al. Creatine supplementation and endurance performance: surges and sprints to win the race. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2023. Link
3. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, list of permitted health claims. Link
4. American Council on Science and Health. Creatine: a supplement with a rare commodity, evidence. Link
5. Skare OC et al. Creatine supplementation improves sprint performance in male sprinters. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2001. Link
6. Faraji H et al. The effects of creatine supplementation on sprint running performance and selected hormonal responses. S Afr J Res Sport Phys Educ Recreat, 2010. Link
7. Glaister M, Rhodes L. Short-term creatine supplementation and repeated sprint ability: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2022. Link
8. Deng B et al. Effects of different dietary supplements combined with conditioning training in athletes: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Front Nutr, 2025. Link
9. Delecluse C et al. Effect of creatine supplementation on intermittent sprint running performance in highly trained athletes. J Strength Cond Res, 2003. Link
10. Glaister M et al. Creatine supplementation and multiple sprint running performance. J Strength Cond Res, 2006. Link
11. Rossiter HB et al. The effect of oral creatine supplementation on the 1000-m performance of competitive rowers. J Sports Sci, 1996. Summarised in source 2.
12. Tomcik KA et al. Effects of creatine and carbohydrate loading on cycling time trial performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2018. Summarised in source 2.
13. Fernández-Landa J et al. Effects of creatine monohydrate on endurance performance in a trained population: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med, 2023. Link
14. Balsom PD et al. Creatine supplementation per se does not enhance endurance exercise performance. Acta Physiol Scand, 1993. Summarised in source 2.
15. Santos RVT et al. The effect of creatine supplementation upon inflammatory and muscle soreness markers after a 30km race. Life Sci, 2004. Summarised in sources 2 and 16.
16. Wax B et al. Creatine for exercise and sports performance, with recovery considerations for healthy populations. Nutrients, 2021. Link
17. Bassit RA et al. Creatine supplementation reduces plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and PGE2 after a half-ironman competition. Amino Acids, 2008. Link
18. Antonio J et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2021. Link
19. Weiss CA, Powers ME. Creatine supplementation does not impair the thermoregulatory response during a bout of exercise in the heat. J Sports Med Phys Fitness, 2006.
20. Baker LB. Sweating rate and sweat sodium concentration in athletes. Sports Med, 2017. Link
21. Wall BT et al. Chronic oral ingestion of L-carnitine and carbohydrate increases muscle carnitine content and alters muscle fuel metabolism during exercise in humans. J Physiol, 2011. Link
22. Fielding R et al. L-carnitine supplementation in recovery after exercise. Nutrients, 2018. Link
23. Llanos-Lagos C et al. Effect of strength training programs in middle- and long-distance runners' economy at different running speeds: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med, 2024. Link
24. Lanhers C et al. Creatine supplementation and lower limb strength performance: a systematic review and meta-analyses. Sports Med, 2015. Link
25. The effects of creatine supplementation on upper- and lower-body strength and power: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 2025, 17, 2748. Link
26. Smith-Ryan AE et al. Creatine supplementation in women's health: a lifespan perspective. Nutrients, 2021. Link
27. Runner's World. The benefits of creatine for runners and how to add it to your nutrition plan. Link