VIDEO: How to Drink Water During a Race

Hydration is important during a race.  That is why running events will provide hydration stations for runners to give out sports drinks and water.  Volunteers or marshals will hand out drinks from a cup as runners pass by the water stations.

However, getting hydration at these water stations can slow you down.  It can be crowded, messy and slippery. Sometimes, runners would fumble on the cups, or get choked while drinking in the small cups.  If you are running for a PR, these experiences at the hydration station can affect your finish times.

So how do you drink water from the hydration station without the need to stop?  How do you drink water without too much spilling, or worst, getting choked.

Here’s a 3-step technique on how to drink water during a race without choking or stopping.  The 3 steps are:

1 – Hold
2 – Pinch
3 – Sip

You may need to slow down a little to get the cup.  But at least, you don’t need to stop abruptly and change your rhythm.

The hold is simply to hold the cup at the tip.  Have an eye contact with the one giving out water so that he or she would anticipate your arrival.  Have a soft grip on the cup and say thank you as you receive the cup.

The pinch is to make the opening of the cup smaller to lessen the spills.  It will also make sure to have short flow of water when drinking from the cup.  This will lessen the risk of getting choked.

Then sip the water from the tip of the cup.  Don’t gulp.  Just sip.

To make these 3-steps clearer for you, here’s 4-minute video by  Sam that demonstrates how to drink water during a race.

Hopefully, this 3-steps on how to drink water during a race will help you in your races.

Share this to a running buddy. 😀