How to drink during a race

As the GE20/30km run this weekend, i read an article on the above by George Koertzen

Happy Reading guys...

What to do at refreshment stations is as personal as the way you brush your teeth or the way you tie your shoes in the morning. The most important part of this advice is that it should all be tried in a training run, not in the big race.
I am no scientist, so the advice in this article has simply been gleaned through years of personal experience.
Firstly: Do you run through the refreshment station, or do you stop and walk to swallow your Water, Coke or Powerade?
The guidelines are simple: if you are going for a silver and every second counts or are a marginal cut-off finisher then you keep moving. Either slow down a little, or drink on the run.
Be careful not to gulp a freshly poured Coke, the gas could give heart burn or stomach cramps. If you are a 10:00 Comrades runner or a 4:15 marathon runner, in other words you are not in a mad rush to get to the finish, then take a brief walk at the stations.
Make sure you get a cool drink (sometimes the drinks at the back of the table tend to be the coolest). The benefit you get from that little walk, far outweigh the disadvantages.
In my first ever 32 kilometre, I ran non-stop and finished 10th last in a sparkling 3:54, once I learnt how to take a convenient breather, I got that time down to 3:00.When you approach a station, decide where you are going to stop well beforehand (make sure you are out of the way so that you don't block the path of the runners wanting to go straight through).
Everybody stops at the first table and it is usually congested, so rather run on the second or third one.
In the same way you plan your stop, plan your start. Don't let your mind convince you a little longer walk won't hurt you... it becomes habit-forming and soon you will find the refreshment station becomes like a holiday camp and the next step is a missed cut off.
Stick to the plan!If you are drinking on the run and the spilling bothers you, squeeze the cup closed at the top and drink as if from a funnel. It is still far easier to drink the cup as per normal. If you do spill, a sachet of water sprayed on your face and in to your mouth should elevate the problem.
The table sequence in most races are Coke or Powerade first and then water, the general idea is to be able to wash the sweetness out of your mouth before you start running again. How much to drink?
The guidelines are 125 ml per three kilometres, this once again depends on your own usage. You need to be burning off the energy in the drink before filling up your tank. Comrades catches most novices by surprise, the drink stations at some places are no more than a kilometre apart, your body is crying out for a walk, so you stop for a drink... bad mistake.
Many people try to get personal seconds to get them so sort of special mixture along the road, to boost their performance.
In the Comrades for instance there is very little chance of you actually seeing your seconds on a regular basis so get used to what is served up. I would suggest that the average back marker is filling up their tank far quicker than they are emptying it.
The modern day energy drinks like Powerade and Energade are specially formulated to put back what the hard work takes out and should see you through most tough trials but once again try it for yourself -- and do so before race day and not on race day.

Happy running!