A woman died after the Houston Marathon two years ago. She had been worried about dehydration, so began drinking about 12 ounces of water per hour two days before the race. She grabbed water at each water station. During the last hour of the race, she began to get dizzy and unsteady, which she thought was a sympton of dehydration. She increased her water intake, and collapsed.

When she got to the hospital, they also assumed she was dehydrated, and were going to give her an IV. Someone figured out, too late, she was overly hydrated.

The Houston Marathon has moved its water stations further apart, to make it more difficult to overhydrate. They have also tried to educate folks on water intake being related to size. The 100 pound female had been consuming enough water for a 200 pound man, not realizing that the "guidelines" on water intake are based on some mythical "average" person.

It is interesting that the medical treatment for "over hydration" involves taking salt. Forty years ago, my coaches used to force me to take salt tablets on hot afternoons. They had no clue why we were taking salt tablets, just something they had learned from their own coaches forty years before that.

And, Gatorade, a very well testing sports drink does contain a bunch of sodium...maybe those Gatorade folks are related to my old coaches.