A
water stop is a break and a place to break for drinking
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
in sports events (sports competitions or training) for some types of sports, such as various long distance types of
runningRunning is a means for an animal to move on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time. This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of...
(e.g.,
marathonThe marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres that is usually run as a road race. The event is named after the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens...
),
cyclingCycling is an activity most commonly performed on a bicycle - when it is it is also referred to as bicycling or simply biking. It is the use of the bicycle, unicycle , tricycles , quadracycles , and other similar wheeled human-powered vehicles for the purpose of transport, as a form of...
, etc. Similarly, a
water break is a break to drink water in some sports events held in one place.
Water stops and breaks have become obligatory relatively recently. Before the 1950s, there had been a practice to eliminate water breaks in order "to toughen up boys" (see "
Junction BoysThe Junction Boys is the name given to the “survivors” of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s 10 day summer football camp in Junction, Texas beginning September 1, 1954...
" for an example).
Water stops are used to combat interrelated dangers:
hyperthermiaHyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
,
dehydrationDehydration is defined as excessive loss of body water. It is literally the removal of water from an object. In physiological terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes...
and
hyponatremiaHyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the plasma is lower than normal .Severe or rapidly progressing hyponatremia can result in swelling of the brain , and the symptoms of...
.
A
water stop is a break and a place to break for drinking
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
in sports events (sports competitions or training) for some types of sports, such as various long distance types of
runningRunning is a means for an animal to move on foot. It is defined in sporting terms as a gait in which at some point all feet are off the ground at the same time. This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of...
(e.g.,
marathonThe marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres that is usually run as a road race. The event is named after the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens...
),
cyclingCycling is an activity most commonly performed on a bicycle - when it is it is also referred to as bicycling or simply biking. It is the use of the bicycle, unicycle , tricycles , quadracycles , and other similar wheeled human-powered vehicles for the purpose of transport, as a form of...
, etc. Similarly, a
water break is a break to drink water in some sports events held in one place.
Water stops and breaks have become obligatory relatively recently. Before the 1950s, there had been a practice to eliminate water breaks in order "to toughen up boys" (see "
Junction BoysThe Junction Boys is the name given to the “survivors” of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s 10 day summer football camp in Junction, Texas beginning September 1, 1954...
" for an example).
Water stops are used to combat interrelated dangers:
hyperthermiaHyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
,
dehydrationDehydration is defined as excessive loss of body water. It is literally the removal of water from an object. In physiological terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes...
and
hyponatremiaHyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the plasma is lower than normal .Severe or rapidly progressing hyponatremia can result in swelling of the brain , and the symptoms of...
. Drinking water combats dehydration, while intake of
electrolyteIn chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium, usually when in a solution...
solutions (often provided by various
sports drinkA sports drink is a beverage designed to help athletes rehydrate, as well as restore electrolytes, carbohydrates, and other nutrients, which can be depleted after training or competition. Electrolyte replacement promotes proper rehydration, which is important in delaying the onset of fatigue during...
s) combats hyponatremia and its extreme case:
water intoxicationWater intoxication is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water.Normal, healthy individuals have little reason to worry about accidentally consuming too...
.
In a marathon, waters stops are usually at every 5K or at every 2 miles, resulting in 8-12 stops. Stopping for 10 seconds per station results in 1-2 minutes of added time, but the loss of stamina due to dehydration would add much more.
Compared to dehydration, hyponatremia is a relatively recently recognized danger, and there are different opinions about how much water to drink at each water stop. Some texts say that
thirstThirst is the craving for fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals to drink. It is an essential mechanism involved in fluid balance. It arises from a lack of fluids and/or an increase in the concentration of certain osmolites such as salt...
is not a reliable indicator of the need in water, while other say that obligatory drinking at every opportunity without real need increases the danger of hyponatremia. "If you hear sloshing in your stomach... you can by-pass that water stop". (
Jeff GallowayJeff Galloway, MA is a former American Olympian and the author of Galloway's Book on Running....
)
In
Sumois a competitive contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
, if a bout goes for many minutes the referee may call a break traditionally called
mizu-iri or "water break".