Thanks for everyone's input.

You confirmed what I kind of thought - experiment a little and see what works for me now before I'm in the middle of the race.

I've tried grabbing a cup on the run during other events and I've always ended up spilling half of on me so if I do stop I would have to walk through the rest stop area. I have been thinking about getting a belt so maybe I should do that and give it a try while I still have weeks left to train. I do like the idea of having it there whenever I want it - not just when the designated stops are.

I didn't feel the need to take any walk breaks on the 8 mile run but that could be a possibility once I get to 12+ miles. I ended up taking two short walk breaks on the tail end of one duathlon I did last year and my time was still faster then I had expected. I'm going to train to try to run the whole time but if it takes a small walk break or two to finish comfortably I'm ok with that.