Are runners allowed to take water or any liquid during NCAA races? Mainly in XC but also wondering about longer track races?
Are runners allowed to take water or any liquid during NCAA races? Mainly in XC but also wondering about longer track races?
Bump
Yes
During hot 5k's and 10k's on the track, some meets set up tables with cups of water.
Taking assistance is against the rules. It would not be allowed to have someone set up during a cross country race to hand you a bottle of fluids. Only race provided aid stations are allowable.
Any chance you can site the rule that explains this?
What is the real question? I don't understand what your end game would be.
Seems pretty simple. In hot championships the meet sets up a table for safety. I have seen that at the NCAA level but not really at the SEC Meets I have been to. I have never seen it in the XC Championships.
Old Man 2 Lapper wrote:
What is the real question? I don't understand what your end game would be.
Seems pretty simple. In hot championships the meet sets up a table for safety. I have seen that at the NCAA level but not really at the SEC Meets I have been to. I have never seen it in the XC Championships.
I've seen this done at conference level meets for 5k and 10k races when the heat was over 80 degrees come race time (even if they adjust the race schedule so that the 10k took place in the evenings).
D2 lets you run with a camelback and/or a fanny pack to keep your gels and energy bars if needed. Not sure if they allow run gum.
I just don't know what this original poster is going for. There has to be a follow up question or this is a beyond stupid thread.
This is one of my troll accounts. :)
My follow up question was to see if I could actually see the rule in writing?
The reason I'm asking is I'm a HS coach with a very talented and hard working athlete who will likely go Power 5. They deal with a medical condition where they occasionally can run out of energy at the end of longer races. We are experimenting in training with different schedules of things to eat/drink before or during workouts or races. So far it has seemed to really help if they drink Gatorade partway through a race. In HS that is completely legal as long as it's given to them in an unrestricted area of the course. But not going to do that for their senior year of XC if it isn't something they could continue to do in college.
Now the question makes sense. I have never seen it in an xc meet and I went to a Power 5 conference. Since there is a medical reason, I bet the trainer may have an option to do that. Since you are experimenting you may want to try other drinks like coconut water or Pedialite before the race, that may help hydrate more and keep a more manageable balance for the race.
Found this in the NCAA DIII XC manual (page 8):
"Water Equipment. Generic cups and hydration product (water, etc.) should be provided by the host
institution for the student-athletes at the start and finish lines. This can be included as a meet expense in
the budget. All cups, coolers and ice chests used must be devoid of commercial identification. The host
institution may use other items. These items, however, must not display any commercial marks (e.g.,
logos and graphics of commercial products such as Gatorade), or such marks must be covered completely
(this requirement applies on the sidelines and in competition areas, media areas or any other back-ofhouse
areas).
If the host has to provide and/or purchase product for any NCAA championship use, the host must
purchase and provide only Coca-Cola products (e.g., Dasani, POWERADE, Coca-Cola, Sprite). Participating
teams and student-athletes in NCAA championships continue to be free to use/consume permissible
hydration beverage(s) of their own choice; however, equipment carrying any branding other than
POWERADE, as referenced above, must be absent of any commercial marks."
Similar language - in that water should be provided at the finish line - is in the XC DI Regional manuals (there are many manuals as there is one per Regional site).
Otherwise, I cannot find anything explicit in the 2017-18 NCAA TF/XC Manual about hydration aids/assistance during the course of an event. It is possible that someone could protest/report to an official about unlawful assistance (Rule 4, Article 4)
http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/TF18.pdf
I cannot find anything in the most recent version of the NCAA Sports Medicine Manual about hydration during meets.
Indoor? wrote:
they occasionally can run out of energy at the end of longer races.
You don’t say
Thank you C/M Runner for the detailed response. Good idea to look at the Host info. Seems like that stuff is more about branding haha
And yes we are trying lots of different things and hope to find something that they can take pre-race that doesn't require taking anything during.
A zillion years ago I competed in one college XC meet that had a mid-course water station. Temps were in the 90's. Since I started coaching 18 years ago I haven't seen any XC races where the host has set up a water station on the course. I did coach at one meet where one coach was handing one specific athlete a bottle of water mid-race. I questioned him about it and he said the runner in question had some medical condition that limited the amount they sweated and the bottle was for the runner to pour over their head.