6000 plastic drinking bottles

Press, 31 May 1985, Page 9

6000 plastic drinking bottles

An innovation that should improve runners’ performances in this year’s marathon is the PDL plastic water bottle.

A historic problem in marathon running is how to efficiently provide liquids to runners during the race. Runners need to drink between 120 ml and 140 ml of fluid every 20 minutes to prevent dehydration problems occurring.

Passing water to runners in paper cups is often inade-

quate, as jostling and bumping means up to two-thirds of the contents of the cup are spilled.

It is also difficult for runners to drink from a wide-brimmed cup while on the move without spilling most of the contents. The PDL bottles solve most of these spillage problems. The lightweight, fliptop containers are passed to runners sealed, and they need only to flick open the

cap and squirt liquid into their mouths. Because dehydration becomes a greater problem over long distances, the PDL bottles will only be available to runners competing in the full marathon. Almost $l4OO has been spent on 6000 bottles, which will be filled with water or diluted fruit juice.

The PDL bottles will be concentrated at the earlier aid stations on the course, because dehydration problems are best avoided by efficient liquid intake early in the race. Paper cups will be used later in the race, and they will be provided along the course for half-marathon runners.