Marathon - running & drinking a cup of water

Bend the cup with your hand so it creates a funnel into your mouth, and pour slowly.

You can’t drink and breath at the same time, take small sips.

Thank you for the advice.

I will try it tomorrow :-)

Do you know at what time a marathoner should takes cup of water or isotonic drink ?

Thanks

That is something you should experiment with during long runs.

A lot of people find drinking sport drinks very early in the race is best, because you really can't recover once you're dehydrated/energy stores are gone. However, if you drink too much, you could end up needing to use the bathroom, etc. before finishing. It's really something you need to figure out on training runs...

It's good you're practicing this now.

Before my first marathon, I went to a park with a half mile paved loop, set up a table and some paper cups, and ran laps. My initial attempts went much like yours.

Based on a tip I read here on LRC, I cut a plastic drinking straw in half and stuck it in my pocket. When I approached the table, I pulled it out, inserted it in the cup, pinched the paper cup shut around the straw, and drank. Success - or at least I thought so until I came around for the next lap. I reached for the straw, but it had bounced out of my pocket. I reached for the backup straw in the other pocket, and it had also disappeared. You can try it if you want, but I nixed the straw idea. It was too fiddly and took too much fine motor skill, which is not something you can count on in a marathon, especially if it's a cold morning. And you absolutely do not want to rely on your straw not getting lost for hydration.

So I went with the classic: Approach the water stop, grab the cup, pinch the top shut to form a funnel at one end, and tip the cup into your mouth. I could usually swallow 1-2 ounces/30-60 ml of water this way.

Make sure to keep practicing. If you run any smaller races, force yourself to use them as opportunities to drink at race pace.

As far as when and what to drink in a race, that gets into all the complications of marathon nutrition. I went with drinking only water at every stop (about every 3-4 km) and using gels for fuel, but definitely practice that too. Dumping unfamiliar carbohydrates in your gut during a race can have unexpected and unpleasant consequences.

Not too difficult to google this.

https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20814001/marathon-race-day-nutrition-and-hydration/

Do you have anyone to hand you a few bottles along the way? Practice, practice, practice.

Buy one of those Gatorade 24 oz. twist top bottles usually only found in convenience stores. Not hard to carry for a full marathon if you try it for a few long runs first. At every water stop take the whole top off and pour the water/Gatorade into the bottle - only slowing down a little to avoid spilling or dropping the top. You can then easily sip every half mile or so and delay dehydration vs. spilling half the cup and waiting for the next water table a mile away.

The key is to not pour the cup straight back into your throat as you'll likely inhale a bunch and end up choking on it. Instead, tip your head a bit and pour into your cheek. This, along with the cup-pinch-funnel tip should do the trick.

Thirsty wrote:

Buy one of those Gatorade 24 oz. twist top bottles usually only found in convenience stores. Not hard to carry for a full marathon if you try it for a few long runs first. At every water stop take the whole top off and pour the water/Gatorade into the bottle - only slowing down a little to avoid spilling or dropping the top. You can then easily sip every half mile or so and delay dehydration vs. spilling half the cup and waiting for the next water table a mile away.

This (or a bicycle bottle) works really well. You actually get to skip many of the water stops, so you're not slowing down as much, or needing to cross the road for water. If you gesture to the aid station with your bottle, the volunteers can often top you off from a pitcher.

Elite athletes drink from sports bottles during their races, so you're actually engaging in a practice that is more similar to what the pros do if you carry your own bottle.

It is nice starting the race with exactly the mix of Gatorade that you prefer. In fact, you could even store an additional zip lock bag of Gatorade powder if you wanted to mix your own on the course with some water from a station.

if you want something smaller, this is a neat little bottle -

- can even tuck it into your waistband if you want more freedom with hands.

...I hope I didn't lose all credibility by posting that link. Was wanting to put just the web address, not embed a picture of a topless runner. Oh well.

Just make sure you get some good gulps.

Slow down a little to make sure you get some in. Don’t stop and walk, but you won’t lose time by taking your time at the aid stations. It will do you better to amply refuel.

Thank you for your feedback it is helping me a lot!

All your comments and experience are so precious thank you so much ☺️

I practice today with a plastic cup. I created a funnel with my hand and it’s working ! I can drink while I am running without loosing almost all the water.

I will continue to practice !

Thank you ☺️

I spent $20 and got a Nathan handheld that gets me about 7-8 miles. I did a 14-miler and looped it so I hit my car at mile 8 and filled it with extra water from a bottle I had by my car. On race day I'll probably refill the handheld when I need to with water and take gatorade in the cups using the funnel method. That way I'll always have water on me and gatorade whenever I need to every few miles.

skwal4 wrote:

Hi,

I am training for a marathon in October.

Today I practice to catch cup of water and drink them while running. It's catastrophic. I put water in my nose, on my t-shirt, on the ground and very few on my mouth.

Somebody has few tips / technics for drinking properly cups of water during a marathon ?

Thanks

Christophe

In addition to pinching the cup, turn your head to the (right) side when you drink. This will prevent spillage landing on you, particularly on your feet, which can lead to blisters. Practice this in shorter races before.

Try and grab a couple drinks in case you drop one or need more. On a hot race day, I like to douse water on my head or legs.

After 22 or 23 miles, i would skip water/electrolytes if i was feeling OK.

In addition to pinching the cup, turn your head to the (right) side when you drink. This will prevent spillage landing on you, particularly on your feet, which can lead to blisters. Practice this in shorter races before.

Great tip. Never had nipple chafing except for that one race whenre I got a lot of sports drink on my chest.

Take a few walking steps while drinking, then resume running. The time lost is negligible (at least for a 2:45 or slower marathoner), but you will be able to hydrate properly and avoid spilling liquid on shirt/shoes that easily leads to chafing/blisters etc...

What worked for me was upon being handed the cup of water I poured half of it out and drank the other half on the go without ending up with water going up my nose. I also stopped at every water stop even though the weather was a perfect 50 degrees for that November race. As I approached the last water stop with only two miles to go I was going to bypass it but since I was thirsty I took the cup and drank it. After the race I downed two large cartons of liquid. Until a savvy friend who was an experienced marathon runner told me of the importance of drinking at each stop I was going to drink little or no water. That was my one and only marathon and I'm glad I listened.

It's easier to drink from bottles during a race than cups. I only ever grab a cup if I miss my bottle for whatever reason. But the key for elites is you don't have to carry a bottle, its setup for you. Its would be a pain to carry and if my option were to carry it and stop to have it filled I'd just drink from a cup. The slowdown to drink from a cup is minor compared to stopping and having a bottle topped off from a volunteer who's not ready for you.

Thirsty wrote:

Buy one of those Gatorade 24 oz. twist top bottles usually only found in convenience stores. Not hard to carry for a full marathon if you try it for a few long runs first. At every water stop take the whole top off and pour the water/Gatorade into the bottle - only slowing down a little to avoid spilling or dropping the top. You can then easily sip every half mile or so and delay dehydration vs. spilling half the cup and waiting for the next water table a mile away.

No competitive runner would do this.