10 Eye-Opening Minutes at the Colorado Colfax Marathon

Last Sunday I grabbed my camera and spent ten minutes at the aid station at mile 19 of the Colorado Colfax Marathon. I got a bunch of interesting photos, some of which I've included below. The first group of photos are of runners struggling to drink out of paper cups - lots of water and sports drink spilling everywhere. Based on when I was at the aid station, I'd estimate these folks finished around 4:00 - 4:15. You can click the photos to enlarge them.

Here's a guy getting ready to try and drink out of a paper cup pinched together at the top. He's just moments away from getting this all over himself. Until the launch of the HydraPouch, this was state-of-the-art race day hydration.

Here's a series of photos showing racers filling their plastic water bottles from paper cups at the same aid station. Two things worth noting about these pictures: these folks are all stopped or walking, and all of these cups ended up in the trash because they're lined with polypropelene and can't be recycled or composted. If these folks had refilled their containers from HydraPour dispensers, they would have saved time and reduced paper cup waste.