How the hell does runners drink during longruns?

Park water fountain, random garden hose?

Things I have done -- in order of frequency:

1. Gone without.

2. Run 5 mile loops multiple times. Bottles at start/finish of each loop.

3. Drive route prior, stashing bottles along the way.

4. Public water along route -- fountains, garden hose, etc.

5. Carried a handheld bottle (only on long trail runs).

-begging is underrated.

-also stopping at hotels/motels/gas stations/fast food place where you can usually snag free water (or beg for them to give you a cup)

no one will ever deny you water, they would feel too guilty.

i wouldnt encourage this strategy but it works every time if you are lazy or run out of water.

I tried the drink belt thing, but didn't like it. If you do that, don't put Coke in it. No reason. Just sayin'.

Like another suggested, when doing long runs with drinks, I put a bottle at the beginning of a 4.5K loop, drinking at each loop.

But I don't usually drink on long runs (I run them in the morning when it's cool) unless I'm doing some kind of preparation/simulation for the marathon.

jess from crabtown wrote:

-begging is underrated.

-also stopping at hotels/motels/gas stations/fast food place where you can usually snag free water (or beg for them to give you a cup)

no one will ever deny you water, they would feel too guilty.

i wouldnt encourage this strategy but it works every time if you are lazy or run out of water.

You entitled little brats. Stick a 20 in your pocket and purchase, yes that's right, purchase your drinks just like the rest of do.

pretzels wrote:

Things I have done -- in order of frequency:

4. Public water along route -- fountains, garden hose, etc.

begging

purchase

Don't those require stopping? I am too OCD for that.

I am thinking once my runs exceed two hours (115 minutes is as long as I have gone), I'll just carry the stupid bottle with me. I can see how that could become annoying if there is a fartlek (or something of the sort) involved, but gotta do what u gotta do.

Do you not have any parks near your house/apartment? I can think of three different parks within 10 miles of me. I drink before I run then I run a route that gets me to the city park water fountains and back.

Is there a park you can park at then run around there? I've never had a hard time finding water on my runs. I've never had to buy a drink. I'd be embarrassed to walk into a store with how sweaty I get during long runs.

Take a bottle with me and drop it somewhere. I run roughly 3 mile laps, so I can drink every 3 miles.

I did a solo 24 mile loop trail run this summer. I hid a Gatorade/water at 9 miles and another at 15 miles. A trash can somewhere would have been nice but I ended up carrying both empty bottles the whole way.

That was actually a good thing because I took a fall around 21 miles and the bottles in each hand cushioned the fall!

I either run a loop 2-3 times, or I stop at a fountain or buy a drink.

I don't like running loops, but when it is hot that is my preferred option. Last year there was a fountain about 10 miles into my 20 mile long route, I always used that, but now it has been turned off for some reason so I stop at a gas station and buy a drink instead.

A tip I got from cyclists here in Germany: cemeteries always have water, it might seem a bit creepy but beggers can't be choosers!

sdsadd wrote:

Take a bottle with me and drop it somewhere. I run roughly 3 mile laps, so I can drink every 3 miles.

I will do the same on out and back courses. Carry a bottle the first 3 miles or so and get a drink before I drop it. Continue running 8 - 12 miles and grab the bottle on the way back to get some fluids during the last 3 miles.

I've also used the public fountains and dropping bottles along the course. If the schedule works out my wife has been known to deliver a bottle on her way to the store or something. (I get great support from my wife.)

Learning where every water fountain in my city is has been a surprisingly fun and useful hobby.

City

- water fountain

- stop at a store

Track

- water fountain

- bathroom

- car

Rural

- leave bottles at strategic points the evening before

- hide a water bottles i=on the way out of a an out or back

- plan a loop or figure 8 course taking me past the car a few times

Trails

- above 65 I carry water

- below 65 don't bother

What I do is:

1. Run by a water fountain. Yes you have to stop for a few seconds to drink, but its not going to effect your training that much.

2. If I'm doing a loop run, put a water or gatorade bottle on top of my car. I can think of 8 different water fountains I can use at different parks and stuff and there might be a couple more, but I haven't checked for them.

I do remember one time I got lost running in Tennessee, and ended up going into a gas station and drinking from the sink in the bathroom.

The toughest thing is doing an out and back on trails where you can't drive an stash water bottles part way through, or its too inconvenient to do so. I used to do a lot of long runs without even drinking because of that, but I wouldn't recommend it if its hot.

rekrunner wrote:

I tried the drink belt thing, but didn't like it. If you do that, don't put Coke in it. No reason. Just sayin'.

Is Pepsi ok?

oddgs wrote:

How the hell does runners drink during longruns if they don't bring their own bottles??

Here's what I does:

-I goes by some office buildings with spigots in the bushes. I keeps a clear plastic cup in the bushes. When I needs a drink on long runs, I goes in the bushes real quick and get some water. I does this mostly when it's hot out.

-Occasionally, I does runs that go back and forth by my house (like a figure 8 course). I keeps a water bottle or a few cups at the end of the driveway. When I goes by my house, I picks up the bottle or cup and drink, then I drops it off down the street. When I does finish my run, I goes and picks them up.

oddgs wrote:

How the hell does runners drink during longruns if they don't bring their own bottles??

What do you mean by a long run?

We’d regularly run a 15 miler on a Sunday morning training run during the summer months here in England, which by nature of the composition of the pack would get quite competitive, finishing in around 80-82 min, (78 the day Derek Clayton joined in) - and it would never occur to us that we needed a drink during those runs.

Even when some later added a 3 mile loop towards the end, making it an 18 mile run.

For some weird reason years ago, in a long distance race in Britain, it was against the rules for anyone to be given a drink before the 10 mile mark, even in the summer months.

Someone handed me a wet sponge at about 8 mile in a 20 mile race and some officious official tried to get me disqualified.

It was sad to see the demise of the old 20 miler when the marathon boom arrived - a much more equitable distance to race in my view

I work and pay taxes wrote:

jess from crabtown wrote:

-begging is underrated.

-also stopping at hotels/motels/gas stations/fast food place where you can usually snag free water (or beg for them to give you a cup)

no one will ever deny you water, they would feel too guilty.

i wouldnt encourage this strategy but it works every time if you are lazy or run out of water.

You entitled little brats. Stick a 20 in your pocket and purchase, yes that's right, purchase your drinks just like the rest of do.

hehehe

I like how no one responded (the way you would have liked) to your post. :)

Come run a 20 miler in South Louisiana during the summer!!!! You guys sound like a bunch of girls!!!!