An incredible and memorable event and very well organised.
One observation however.
The use of bottles rather than cups for water meant that the later runners were unable to have water to drink at the middle distance stations. They had simply run out.
The New York Marathon give out smaller quantities in plastic cups more often and manage it without running out!
I appreciate it was exceptionally hot but even more reason to consider the slower runner.
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Considering how hot it was, I thought it showed incredible naivety of the organisers.
It was fairly obvious that pretty much everyone would be wanting water at the first 'pit stop' - so why not ensure there's enough water for everyone???
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I hate small plastic cups in a race and find I do not get enough water that way.
I did take my own bottle so I was okay but I was quite worried when we got to I think the 16th mile and they said there was no more water for the next 3 stations. I finished in 5hr40m10secs, and plenty of people behind me.
At the end it was fine - plenty of water - and I don't think the Lucozade stations had any problems either.
Race organisers should know by now that if it is a hot day you need more water - it isn't rocket science and it was forecast to be warm all week, it isn't like it caught them by surprise.
I didn't tip any over me but my guess is the ones that did, if it didn't go there, it would go on the road, half drunk and wasted anyway.
But i'm sorry to hear that there wasn't water left at some stages.
i never went more than 3 miles without water
We knew all week this was going to be a hot one so there is no excuse not for something this size.
And I haven't got a prob with people tipping water over them from a bottle they've taken to drink from (as you ay, it would only go to waste on the road anyway).
But there are some who will take a bottle solely to tip over their heads - that doesn't help.
Would it not be possible for the organisers to have some massive containers of non-drinking water and sponges, so that those who want to cool off can do so without affecting drinking water supply?
Plodding Hippo - they didn't increase the amount of water by anything like a third.
The figures given out were an extra 2,600 bottles at each water station, to add to the normal 25,000 stock. That's more like one-tenth.
I agree it isn't the responsibility of faster runners to make sure there is enough for everyone!
It did worry me that many people seemed to be taking a bottle having a few sips and then throwing it away - most of the bottles on the road still had water in them. I did try running with the bottles for a while, but without the lid the water just sloshed out and they were an awkward shape to run with trying to hold upright. If they had lids on more people might have kept them instead.
I know cups aren't the answer. Maybe smaller bottles, less waste ?
Not Good.
I saw spectators offering bottles of water that they had obviously bought, which was very thoughtful, and little kids siphoning the water from discarded bottles to offer people but I did not really want to drink leftovers.
I was really thankful that a friend of mine, who has run marathons before, rang me on Friday and told me to take my own drink as well. That way, when my water had run out I was able to take from the water stations and fill up my bottle. The official advice was to take a few sips at every station but they had not provided enough water for every runner to do that.
I thought it seemed like they'd increased the number of water stations - even doubling them. Might have been delerium but I was always glad to see one.
I would though never take more than 1 bottle of water, mindful of those behind me. There were a few stations though where the bottle would slip out of hand as I grabbed it from the volunteer (It isn't easy with sweaty hands to make accurate connection with bottle whilst running at 6:40 pace with runners swerving violently in front of you). I wonder what happened to those bottles that were dropped.
I have to say I disagreed with the protocol in the race instructions not to use the water to pour over you. Firstly, I find it impossible to drink 330 ml of water when racing, 150ml maximum before it feels like it is all going to come back up. Then why not pour it over you, as others have said it would only otherwise go to waste.
Also the showers really only provide very limited relief, even the water poured over the head by the last six miles was drying out by the next water station. At the end of the day it was that water over the head that kept me cool enough to just about finish in one piece.
I don't really understand why the old fashioned vat of water and sponge is no longer used. If you have these at least people can stop if necessary and replenish the sponge.
But it's just as hazardous avoiding all the plastic bottles anyway!!!!
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Was nice that one woman fun runner even stopped to abuse us for cheering people on though.
What was great was that on a number of occasions after mile 13 several runners passed a half full bottle of water on to a runner next to them, rather than simply discarding onto the road...at one point I was in a chain of four runners all using the same bottle (not at the same time) - fantastic!
If the tops had been left on running with the water would have been a better option than ditching so it wasnt spilling everywhere and being wasted.
I think the heat took everyone by surprize. A comment from one of my supporters was that it was difficult to buy water (plenty of coffee available)maybe this should have been addressed too by FLM and shops/cafes.
Why not just provide this minus the flip top? The water comes out if you squeeze it, with no need to remove the cap, and you could run along with the bottle in hand without it splashing about. Of course, people would likely still remove the cap to better pour the water over your head, but as stated prior, I can't see that tripping on caps is any more likely than tripping on discarded bottles.
I ran at 3:20 pace, and almost everyone at that stage would ensure discarded bottles were thrown into the gutter or clear of the course. Perhaps it's less likely that a cap would be thrown in the same manner ?
But I also assume that at the more crowded paces, the bottles can't be thrown , clear as easily.