Hydration Tips for Race Organizers

An "AHA!!!" moment came up to me the other day.

While reading different running blogs about their not so great experience during BOTAK PAA-RUSA... este BOTAK PAA-TIBAYAN race. I asked myself, how the *#!& does these race organizers compute how much they would spend on the hydration of a race???

BALDRUNNER gave me a very clear idea about it in his blog post. Thanks, General!!!

But maybe, some race organizers feel like not really spending for the runners hydration.

But...

What if I tell you that my "AHA!!!" moment will cost race organizers less than 2,000 petot per 500 runners?

What if I tell you that my "AHA!!!" moment has a very PINOY feel into it?

Will you give me a hug if and when you see me? :)

Okay.. enough with the suspense... pati ako na-e-excite...

Kids... I present to you the good old fashioned yet very effective...

ICED TUBIG!!!

it's iced tubig, you know???

Don't laugh... I'm serious about it.

If you saw me carrying an Iced Tubig during that race, you might have traded your I-pod for it.

Okay then, maybe not.

I'll just slow down and wait for you to collapse. And then I'll get your I-pod... and your shoes... =)

Just kidding...

But think about it. This will save you the hassle of pouring water on cups during races. Less mess. You just have to half fill them with water before the race. Position them at water stations before the race starts. Water you get from wherever, we runners don't care.

But then again you have sponsors for these, right? You can even put Gatorade or PowerAde or Rush or VitWater, you know?!?

And you just have to fill half of it, so that it will be easy to hold. And light enough to throw at them hecklers.

The only problem is the te-ma-arts.

te-ma-arts: Ewwwww... what's that? You think i'll drink from that yucky plastic tubig?
rod.runner: Ay lech... dagukan kita diyan eh.

Now for the computation. Get your pens & papers... this will get intense.

Let's make an example based on a full marathon which will need 20 water stations.

So if you have the following:

num_of_runners = 500
num_of_stations = 20

cost_of_plastic = P10/100 pcs
cost_of_plastic = P0.1 per piece (based on Aling Loleng's tindahan sa corner)

num_of_container = num_of_runners * num_of_stations
num_of_container = 500 * 20
num_of_container = 10,000

total_cost = num_of_container * cost_of_plastic
total_cost = 10,000 * P0.1
total_cost = P1,000

See?!? P1,000 lang!!!

How many registrants does it take to come up with P1,000?!?!

But please, if in case this will be considered. Don't put Iced Tubig in the freebies.

Okay now... where's my hug? *tissue please... nosebleed*

It's going to be a crazy day...

I don't want to sound like a fortune-teller. But I think 05/10/2009 will be a crazy race day.

Have you seen the BOTAK PAA-TIBAYAN map? Specifically the routes for the 21k and 42k? Those are craaaaaaazzzzzyyyyyyy routes, man.

I hope that the race organizer has done their assignments real well. Marshalls should be well oriented. Water stops should be adequate & well manned. Medical facilities should be in place. Traffic should be, well... dealt with accordingly. Some people do work on a sunday. :)

And how about the weather? I don't know if "EMONG" has left the P.I., but this past weeks weather was craaaazzzzzyyyy. And according to CNN weather, it's going to rain tomorrow. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!


And last... I read from more than a couple of running groups that they'll go renegade on this race. And they are inviting people to join them. Craaaaaazzzzzzzzyyyy....

What I fear here is the cut-off time for the 42k runners. I don't know if there was a discussion about it. Because in the Condura Run, this was cleared at least a week before the race. I think I see a lot of complaints after this race though. =(

Will I run tomorrow even if it rains? It's a YES!

Will I run on the said routes? Maybe... :)

Will I go bandit? Hmmnnnn......