Drinking Water Before Running?

Does one make a bracha on water drunk before running?

The Mishna teaches that one who drinks water to quench his thirst makes a shehakol. The Gemara explains that if drinking only to wash down food stuck in one’s throat, one makes no brachos before or after, since water only gives a person pleasure when they are thirsty.¹

Other beverages, however, require a bracha before and after, even when drunk to wash down stuck food, since their taste is enjoyable.² The same is true of water mixed with even a little flavoring or another drink, when its taste is noticeable.³

Whenever the person enjoys the water, they are presumably somewhat thirsty and make a bracha.⁴ Therefore, one who drinks water to swallow a pill, before a medical procedure, or to hold off a headache, makes a bracha only if they enjoy the water as well.⁵ If part of a revi’is was drunk for thirst and part not, one makes a bracha rishona but no bracha acharona, since a full revi’is was not drunk for thirst.⁶

As for drinking before a fast, some are medayek from the Alter Rebbe’s words that water gives enjoyment only “when one is thirsty,” so one who drinks now only to prevent later thirst, before a fast or a journey, makes no bracha.⁷ The same applies to filling up on water for a health need, such as a nursing mother drinking water to have more milk, or mineral water taken as a regimen.⁸

A speaker whose mouth becomes dry, but does not feel thirsty at all, would not make a bracha on the sips they take to relieve dryness of the mouth alone.⁹ When drinking hot water just to warm up, some hold that no bracha is made, while others hold that warm water, unlike cold, provides enjoyment even without thirst. Practically, one makes a bracha unless he truly has no enjoyment.¹⁰

Seltzer follows the same principle: one who enjoys the carbonation makes a bracha even when not thirsty, but a small sip taken only to swallow a pill or to ease heartburn gets no bracha.¹¹

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