Where are the drink stations, and can I use my own drinks or food?

• Water and other suitable refreshments must be available at the start and finish of all races. Water must be available at suitable intervals of approximately 5km. For events longer than 10km, refreshments other than water may also be provided at these points.
• Organisers may let athletes provide their own refreshments, in which case the athlete nominates the stations where they are made available. Officials supervise them from the time they are lodged.
• You may carry water or refreshment by hand or attached to your body at any time, provided it was carried from the start or collected from an official station.
• Receiving or collecting refreshment or water from anywhere other than the official stations (except for medical reasons from or under the direction of race officials), or taking another athlete's refreshment, brings a warning for a first offence (normally a yellow card) and disqualification for a second (normally a red card). You must then leave the course immediately.
• You may pass refreshment, water or sponges to or receive them from another athlete if it was carried from the start or collected at an official station. Continuous support from one athlete to others may be treated as unfair assistance.

Source: World Athletics Technical Rules (Book C, C2.1), Part VII Road Races, in the edition updated 1 July 2026: https://worldathletics.org/about-iaaf/documents/book-of-rules