Shalane Flanagan retired from professional running in October 2019, but has made a return to the marathon with the goal of running all six World Marathon Majors during the compressed fall 2021 marathon schedule—just seven weeks separate all six races.
After her first race—a speedy 2:38 in Berlin—she posted a recap to Instagram, Save 31% on Shokz OpenRun Headphones on Amazon Now:
The fluid stations were an experience. I was absolutely terrible at pinching the plastic water cups and drinking, so I basically wore more fluid than I drank. This made for a hot sticky mess and suboptimal hydration.🤦🏼♀️ On top of that, dodging the used cups all over the ground made it feel like I was in an NFL combine agility test scenario 🤪 which is not my strength!
In my experience running hundreds of races—including 30 marathons—over more than three decades, I’ve tried just about every possible way to avoid taking a Gatorade bath. The most successful method involves a finger hook and pinch of the cup. See the video above to learn how you, too, can master messy water stops.
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The Best Comfy Walking Shoes for Wearing Every Day Runner’s World and the director of product testing. He has tested and reviewed running shoes, GPS watches, headphones, apparel, and more for nearly two decades. He regularly tests more than 100 pairs of shoes each year, and once had a 257-day streak running in different models. Jeff can usually be found on the roads, racing anything from the mile to a marathon, but he also enjoys racing up mountains and on snowshoes. When he’s not running, you’ll probably find him hanging from a ladder making repairs and renovations to his house (he’s also director of product testing for Popular Mechanics).
