BKB Ltd. To Hold First Ever Completely "Cup Free" Road Race!

Using our HydraPour high-speed dispensers and HydraPouch personal hydrators, this year's Liberty Run on July 4th at Washington Park in Denver will be country's first ever completely "cup free" road race! Every participant in the race will receive their very own HydraPouch before the race, and HydraPour dispensers will be used at every aid station and in the start and finish areas to dispense water and sports drink. Check out the HydraPouch website at http://www.hydrapouch.com/ to see videos of the HydraPouch and the HydraPour in action.

This year's Liberty Run will be directed by Creigh Kelley, President of BKB Limited of Engelwood, Colorado. Creigh is a nationally prominent race director and announcer and is on the Board of Directors of Running USA. He was recently inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame, who said: "Creigh Kelley is Race Director of the 2009 Denver Post Colorado Colfax Marathon. Kelley has been a competitor, agent, race director, national consultant, announcer, broadcaster and leader in the national and international running community for 30 years. As a race director, he has helped manage, produce and directly assist with over 1,000 recreation special events throughout the nation over the last 29 years, including the past four with the Colorado Colfax Marathon."

New HydraPouch Retailer: RunOn! Texas

HydraPouch just added another major new retailer: the RunOn! chain of four specialty running stores based in and around Dallas, Texas.

RunOn! is one of the "50 Best Running Stores in America" according to The Running Network and Footwear Intelligence (November 2008), and was ranked the number one running store in the state of Texas in 2008 by City Sports Texas (now Competitor Texas). RunOn! stores are located in Dallas, Richardson, Coppell, and McKinney - click here to check out the RunOn! website.

Click here to see the growing list of all HydraPouch retailers from the HydraPouch website.

HydraPouch in Competitor Magazine (formerly Rocky Mountain Sports)

Here is Competitor Magazine's coverage of HydraPouch in the "Getting To Know" section of their June 2009 edition. The text of the article is copied below. You can also click here to see it on our website.

"Squeeze. Fill. Sip. Repeat. Staying hydrated during races has always presented a problem for runners. It's nearly impossible to drink out of a cup while running without spilling half the drink and disposing of the cup on the ground.

Enter the HydraPouch, created by Craig McSavaney of Boulder. The eco-friendly, reusable product holds up to six ounces of liquid and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. The squeeze top allows the pouch to be filled easily and a spout makes sipping simple. Additionally, the pouch attaches easily to a runner's pant waist via the flexible belt strap.

To fill the HydraPouch, McSavaney has created a simple nozzle called the HydraPour, which attaches to any cooler, and allows for quick and clean dispensing.

Competitor Colorado caught up with McSavaney to discuss the new products.

WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR HYDRAPOUCH COME FROM? Back in 2002, paper cups started to bug me. The basic idea for the HydraPouch was that you can be able to fill something up really fast at an aid station, carry it with you and have it be comfortable in your hand.

WHY ARE PAPER CUPS THE ENEMY? The numbers are mind blowing. The Bolder Boulder used 475,000 cups last year. The New York City Marathon went through 2.25 million cups last year. It's miserable to drink out of a paper cup during a race. They are environmentally unfriendly and also cause a safety hazard. I'm yet to meet anyone who has said drinking out of a paper cup is a good experience. And race directors don't want volunteers having to chase cups a half of a mile to a mile down the road. I want to grab six ounces of water at an aid station and I want to sip it and not spill it all over me.

WHAT IS THE HYDRAPOUCH MADE OF? Silicon rubber. It's the same material that baby bottle nipples and kitchen utensils are made out of. It's a food-safe, medical-grade product. It has no chemical products, and is made in the U.S.

HOW HAVE RUNNERS RESPONDED TO THE PRODUCT? It's been universally positive. We did extensive testing with 60 long-distance runners in Boulder and Denver. They tested the HydraPouch, they tested the HydraPour, and they tested paper cups. We had them fill out surveys, and out of all the surveys, we had exactly one person who said they would not buy the product.

HydraPouch is available for $16.95 at hydrapouch.com. - Derek Schimmel