have to go in marathon?

I have, I won a bronze medal in the 1991 World Championships and I was peeing like a racehorse from mile 16 on. No fooling.

This is a big problem for me that I need addressed also! I can't even go 5 miles most of the time without crapping numerous times and stopping to numero uno also. Don't get it, it's so annoying! Maybe it's the altitude, who knows. But I know when my half comes in January, I can only consider myself done for unless I "Get mah colon cleansed thoroughly!!" before the race. Sorry for the graphic details, but it's true! Can't stand it. :-\

Just go. Don't even think about it. It's a race of toughness and pain, and this is just a different dimension of it. I've shit myself in 2 out of my 3 marathons -- it's not pretty, but if you accept that it's going to happen, it shouldn't have too much of a negative effect on your time.

steve spence wrote:

I have, I won a bronze medal in the 1991 World Championships and I was peeing like a racehorse from mile 16 on. No fooling.

Even with all that glycerol you took?

If you have to "go", you can just wait. I usually have to "go" like a racehorse by abt the 4mi mark, but the feeling goes away within a few miles.

I know some guys who are adept at "going" while still running -- one guy can "go" at abt 6:00 pace -- by holding aside the supporter in their shorts. Practice at slow paces.

As for the, uh, more complicated problem, engineer the content and timing of your prerace meals, as well as your warmup, to make sure that you clean house before the race starts. And if the feeling hits you during the race, I haave found that running harder helps the urge abate.

I think Stumbler's situation shuld depend on how fast you are running. I would be more willing to accept the thought of someone soiling themselves running 2:25 than someone running 3:25. The slower you are, the less the effect of stopping to go will have on your finishing time. Remember Spence finsihed 3rd in the World Championship race that day, so peeing in his shorts wasn't a bad investment.

This past spring I ran in my second marathon. Got to the the line for the start and got the feeling of "I need to pee!" I thought, "well I'll only be out there for less then 3 hours I can hold it." Got to mile 20 and it hit again this time harder then it has ever hit in a run. I was running on the side of a highway with high traffic and in a high traffic area for runners since I was passing all the 1/2 marathon runners. I needed to pee but there was no cover or anything, so I thought, "the next big gap between runners I'm going for it." So when the next gap came, I pulled aside my running shorts and sprayed just enough to ease the feeling, finished the rest of the race hoping the pee would dry on my leg. Got done around 2:42 and didn't have to go again, nor did I smell. So I say if it's not crowded whip it out and go, why run uncomfortable when you can ease the pressure?