hydration belt during marathon ?

RachelRuns9

I need to decide if I'm going to wear my hydration belt during my marathon and I'd love some opinions...

pros: I want to have nutrition & liquid available anytime, and I also don't want to have to be forced to stop at a crowded hydration table if I don't need anything at that moment.

cons: Of course it would be more enjoyable to run "free" without lugging that thing around.


Thoughts? I still have quite a few weeks but I need to mentally prepare/practice my routine starting now...

_Josee_

I was having the same dilema for my first marathon back in May. I decided to wear it and it was a great decision!

That way I was able to take my gels when I needed them. I still took a sip of water at every water station, but it was good to know I had access to water between them.

Good luck!

schmenge55

I have only worn a belt for a marathon once. That was the year Chicago was super hot and I wanted to ensure I would have fluids. Even though there was a lot of press about them running out, I always found fluids and in hindsight did not need the belt. To be it is just extra weight. That said, it is really a personal choice and as long as you are training with it, no biggie

Oh, I guess you also need to consider what sports drink they have. If it is something that disagrees with you then of course you carry your own

Carrieendar

It depends because you are negating some of the positives of taking in gels/sports drinks by adding weight to your body, but, if you are not seeking a time goal, it might not matter to you, kwim? But you will be expending energy to carry that weight.

I use a gel flask now so my gels are in there premixed with water and it just clips to my racing belt or shorts. That way I can take in the gels more slowly but I am able to always get carbs from energy drinks at aid stations but it's a lot lighter and easier to carry than packets and a hydration belt.

That all said, CHECK THE AID MAP! I did not do this for the ROck n Roll Raleigh marathon. All of the above advice assumes a race wherein you get aid every 2 miles-ish or less. I ASSumed for the rock n roll that "hey, its a big marathon, aid will be there." and it turned out it was not there. you went two 3-mile stretches with no aid in the marathon only section of the race....on crazy 1700 ft gain hills, with no shade....ya you get the idea. I wish I had my 4 container belt for that one!!

kristinegift

Usually on training run, I drink 1.5 bottles of water (I have a friend meet me halfway with ice cubes that melt and give me some cold water for the torturous 2nd half). I'll be running my first full in October, and I'll probably bring along my water bottle because that's where I keep my chews. I also like to drink once a mile, not once every 2+, and I hate having to wade through the chaos of water stops. I can avoid the water stops when I'm feeling good, walk through them when I'm getting tired, and have water at my disposal throughout the race. If you're used to having water whenever you need it and have been training with the belt, then I'd say go for it, especially if it is going to be crowded and/or hot.

DavidMartinez2

I'm with Carrie; check the aid station plan for your race and decide based on that. If hte aid stations are only 2 miles apart I would not worry about wearing a belt. If they are 4 miles+ apart I would absolutely carry my own water.

CathOh

My hydration belt has two bottles on it. I don't mind carrying it since it doesn't weigh a lot and I do all my long run training runs with it, so I'm used to it. I'm also much better at drinking from a bottle than I am from a cup while I'm running. I'll generally drink water from my bottles and use the water from the aid stations to put either on my head, down my back or down my front.

ZenInTexas

As long as the race is well supported I will not carry a belt or anything extra at all. I like to be as minimalist as possible.

SonicDeathMonkey80

Lots of variables, as everyone touched on. Temps, spacing, your anticipated finish time, etc. I would do everything possible to avoid wearing or carrying at a race, but sometimes it's just smart.

jturnerx

This is always a dilemma for me. I've been in races where they have run out of water, run out of sports drink, run out of cups or an entire aid station went missing. I usually finish in the top third of most races so if the aid stations are having issues that's going to be a big problem for the majority of the field. I've also been in races where there were absolutely no issues and the on course support was phenomenal.

I'm still trying to figure out what the best minimalist set up for me is. While you should be able to rely on the aid stations it doesn't always work out that way on race day.

valentine4

I am with Carriendar - I got stung yesterday on the rock n roll in Dublin ( it was a 1/2) it was really hot, stations every few miles I missed belt something serious!

Samstan101

Not done a full marathon yet but I have got in the habit on 10+ mile runs/ races of wearining a bottle belt with 750ml bottle containing an energy drink and an 'emergency' gel in the pocket. I still have water from the aid station but can have a few sips every couple of miles of the energy drink. In a club race on Sunday that actually gained me a couple of places as I didn't feel the need to stop at the last water station unlike a couple of people I was chasing down. For the HM's I've done its been more of a security blanket than a necessity but the weight it neglible (considering I'm still 30+lbs from goal which is weight I'm carrying anyway!).

GillianMcK

I've only done 1 marathon (so far), it was a hot day (for Scotland), there was water stops every 3 miles, with gels being handed out from mile 13 according to the map (it changed to mile 9 for the gels), Edinburgh marathon is brilliant in that respect, the support from local residents of the towns you run through is amazing, they're all out with cups of water, orange segments, jelly babies etc to keep the runners going, some of them even have a hose out to mist people if they wanted it.
I have gone 12 miles without water so I'm comfortable that I could do that again, that being said, I'm from Scotland, we've been hot the last 4 weeks or so, but the majority of the year the heat isn't an issue (snow maybe, but not the heat)!!

I did have a small stretchy bum-bag that I used for carrying my gels, but I had trained to use half a gel every 3 miles from mile 9, so I only had to carry 5 gels at 40g each, carried an extra couple just in case and could pick them up round the course if needed, just didn't want to risk the course running out of gels).