I’ve been getting a few fun toys in the mail to help with my marathoning efforts. A while ago Anthony Pigliacampo sent me a Gel-Bot from ventureDESIGNworks. It sat on my desk for a while before I started using it. Now that I’ve torn the packaging off of it and run with it a few times, it’s clear that it’s an intensely clever product as it combines a traditional water bottle with a gel dispensing thing. Sunday’s run was a three gel run – I wish I’d had this with me so I didn’t have to stop, tear the tops off the gel packs (with my teeth), make a mess as I tried to slurp the gel out of the gel packs, and then crumple up the sticky package and put it back in my fanny pack. They’ve also got a clever Press-Bot – imagine turning your Nalgene bottle into a french coffee press.