London Marathon strives to reduce its carbon footprint

London, Apr. 21 (BNA): Some 50,000 runners will race in the 43rd London Marathon on Sunday and then go home with medals around their necks and silver foil blankets around their weary shoulders. And they will leave a significant carbon footprint in their wake.

Like any mass participation event, climate concerns are an increasing part of marathon planning, and this year London Marathon Events teamed up with the Council for Responsible Sport (CRS) to measure the social and environmental impact of the race, Reuters reports.

“I would definitely say that (sustainability) is something that’s becoming much more important, whether it’s the participants, the sponsors or the partners,” London Marathon sustainability advisor Kate Chapman told Reuters.

Travel has the largest environmental impact on major marathons, so a carbon tax of 26 pounds ($32) to help offset greenhouse gas emissions is part of the entry fee for international participants.

But marathons also leave a huge trash trail. The London event previously generated up to seven tonnes of rubbish and four tonnes of recycling.

Weatherproof bible numbers cannot be recycled and contain time chips, nor can participant medals.

Olusi Smith, who competed for Canada at both the 2012 Summer Olympics in athletics and the 2018 Winter Olympics in bobsleigh, has made sustainability into the sport his career since quitting competition and becoming an engineer.

Smith is the founder of environmental consulting firm Racing To Zero. In a video on his website, Smith sits with dozens of medals and racing bibs at his feet. “Look at all this stuff,” he tells the camera. “As rewarding as it is to win these awards, the impact on the carbon footprint of a sporting event from purchases, from the things we get, can be significant.”

Smith, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Committee, keeps a shoebox of his most important medals under his bed, but has disposed of the rest.

“I hope I’m not being hypocritical when I say I didn’t keep most of them, which isn’t ideal, and I think in hindsight it would have been better if the (accepting the medal) option hadn’t been there.”

Smith suggested giving contestants the option of choosing to receive a medal.

That would not go down well with the participants, Chapman said.

“There’s been a lot of research done across the crowd participation sector on what people value in terms of what they get at the end of the event, and medals are the things people like the most,” she said.

However, around 2,500 runners have chosen not to receive the traditional racing jersey as part of London’s Trees not Tees programme, which gives participants the option to plant a tree instead.

Among other London initiatives: water bottles and make-up bags are recyclable, leftovers will be donated to a food waste charity, and most official vehicles are electric.

Since water bottles cannot be recycled, London has a “drink, drain and drop” campaign, encouraging runners to dry their bottles before throwing them away.

CRS, which has certified 211 world events since 2008, will measure the impact of Sunday’s race based on numerous factors. One positive factor, for example, is the huge amount that is raised for charity. Last year, the marathon raised more than 58 million pounds ($72 million), according to the website UKrunchat.co.uk.

The ultimate goal is CRS’s highest “evergreen” certification. Only four global events achieved this status last year.

“We have always taken a balanced approach between the environmental, social and economic responsibility of our mass participation events…the legacy we leave behind and the economic impact,” said CRS Board Member Kevin Phelan.

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