Baltimore marathon this weekend is cupless and has "self serve refill stations" - should i carry water?

There are only 1700 participants. I actually don't think it will be that crazy. The cupless races I've run haven't been crazy at all.

The problem is that you have to come to a dead stop during a race several times. It's very different from slowing down to a jog or even a walk to grab a cup.

Im running The Baltimore Marathon this weekend. I have somebody that will hand me a small water bottle at halfway and then at 20.

Cupless races should definitely drop any rules against receiving unofficial water/nutrition.

You guys are wimps. Carrying a bottle, especially considering that it will be empty or mostly empty for a large portion of the race, will not significantly slow you down. The convenience of drinking from a sports bottle is actually great for a marathon. Think about what elites drink from - not cups!

If you’re in a large group it would be pretty annoying if it takes a long time for a fill, but note that having a bottle means you can skip a lot of the stops (while running tangents instead).

What do you do for long runs in training? I’ve used drinking fountains at parks, done loops that bring me by my house for a quick drink, and there’s always just bringing a few dollar bills to grab a Gatorade at a convenience store, but simply carrying a bottle was my favorite hydration solution.

bio Domer wrote:

Think about what elites drink from - not cups!

this would be a good argument if the elites carried a water bottle through the whole race

It's not about carrying a bottle.

It's about carrying a bottle while performing on the highest level.

Please tell me when you have seen the last Olympian carrying a water bottle in track &field?

The whole point of running a Marathon RACE, is to run as fast as possible.

If Pheidippides would have carried a water bottle he would not have died and we would not have to run Marathons.

This is a new trend and it's total B.S.

I just looked up the Baltimore marathon and it's $130 if I wanted to register right now. For $130 I don't think it's to much to ask for someone to hand you some water.

I have no problem stopping during a trainng run to get a drink at a water fountain or go buy a Gatoraid. I don't want to have to stop during a race. It's possible to carry a bottle but it's not ideal. If I'm racing I want to focus on performance and carrying a bottle is distracting.

If this is the way things start going I'll skip the race and just run training runs.

Personally I would either go without water (if the temperature is cool) rather than carry something, or else get a friend to hand me water or plot my own unofficial aid station (against the rules I know but F them).

rojo wrote:

Interesting.

This reminds me of the hotels. Now they don't have to pay housekeepers and they can blame it on Covid.

I don't doubt it's hard to get volunteers during Covid. And we have a huge trash problem here in Baltimmore, but I doubt many of the cups end up in the Bay But I can't imagine myself stopping in a marathon to fill up my water bottle. I guess it would inspire me to have friends and family be a certain points on the course. Will they have tables for elites?

But for the average John or Jane Doe, losing 20 seconds her and there may not be a big deal.

But wouldn't this be bad from a Covid standpoint? You have to stand still next to someone breathing heavily and fill up yoru bottle? How many spouts do they have per table?

This ^

We spent a year standing in line "six feet" from others, for an hour or whatever, to get into a store, where we're dispersed and moving around. Brilliant.

rojo wrote:

Interesting.

This reminds me of the hotels. Now they don't have to pay housekeepers and they can blame it on Covid.

I don't doubt it's hard to get volunteers during Covid. And we have a huge trash problem here in Baltimmore, but I doubt many of the cups end up in the Bay But I can't imagine myself stopping in a marathon to fill up my water bottle. I guess it would inspire me to have friends and family be a certain points on the course. Will they have tables for elites?

But for the average John or Jane Doe, losing 20 seconds her and there may not be a big deal.

But wouldn't this be bad from a Covid standpoint? You have to stand still next to someone breathing heavily and fill up yoru bottle? How many spouts do they have per table?

Rojo- why the hell do you live in Baltimore??? Did you lose a bet or your mind?

GettingFasterDude wrote:

I agree with vaccinating, staying home when you're sick and frequent hand washing/sanitizing. Other than that I think most everything else we're doing regarding is psychological. Like having a marathon with 20,000 people instead of 30,000 people, claiming that will make a difference, at the same time we're having 100,000 people crammed butt to butt in football stadiums in the same state and all over the country, at the same time. It's peak stupidity.

Thinking COVID can be stamped out is just silly, at this point. It's time we go on with life. Either get the shot and move on with life, or accept the risk of not getting the shot and move on with life. Those unable to accept any risk can stay home and get their food delivered, until the virus is gone.

Right, if Covid was truly deadly, you'd have thousands in hospitals after the 100k college football games. I think it does exist but most of it is about control, comfort and optics. (The Vax is legit, though).

Albany Marathon was high on my list until I read they have this policy. I’ve done a 20k trail race and a half that had cupless. I can’t imagine a couple thousand people touching a water cooler is any safer than cups for everyone. Yeah, the water cups at stations is a huge waste. But there should be mitigation already set up.

I think the other major issue races are seeing is a lack of volunteers. If covid kills grandma and grandma is the one volunteering, she’s not going to be begging to volunteer. I doubt Baltimore has cupless because of volunteers though. Idk. Just talking…

Any news on how this went?

Mr. Grumpy wrote:

Any news on how this went?

Most seemed to carry a water bottle. I carried a bottle as well. I believe the top guys were not carrying anything, but perhaps they arranged for people to stand on the course for them.

There were cups handed out on the course in at least 2 locations, but not sure if it was something official or a rogue local running club. Additionally, I was up at the front, so I don't know if they had enough supplies for absolutely everyone, or just the guys up front.

My carried water was enough, I did not stop at any stations but it literally seemed to be simple gatorade coolers.

Crab soup was provided in cups for everyone at the end of the race :)