Tips needed from race organisers

Most races do cups during the run then give a bottle at the end, and most runners seem happy with that. If your event is an out-and-out charity fund raiser however then I think people are quite happy to settle for the basics with just cups of water throughout, and you can buy them by the thousand for just a few pounds at places like Costco or even on Ebay. Buy a couple of flavours of fruit squash for the finish drinks to give the runners a choice and you'll even get compliments.

If you do give out bottles during the race then at the very least you must break the seal on the cap before handing them out - they can be almost impossible to open on the run, particularly if the runners are tired & hence a bit uncoordinated. And don't forget that if you give out bottles some runners will carry them for miles and you'll potentially have to walk the whole course to clear up the discarded bottles. Cups you'll only need to cover 100 yards or so.