Marathon in a good climate
About this good practice
The Sports Infrastructure Board in Kraków organizes prestigious running events in the capital of Małopolska Region since 2002. The most important are the Cracovia Marathon, the Cracovia Royal Half Marathon and the Three Mounds’ Run. The races are characterized by a large number of people, who create large amounts of waste. During Royal Running Triad there are 31,000 participants who produce waste every year.
As the budget unit of Kraków City Hall we are obliged to comply with regulations and policy on ecology, waste segregation and pollution reduction.
In cooperation with sponsors and partners it was necessery to adapt to the company's eco-policy, which can be also used in other cities during running events. Also, in 2023, we started cooperation with Krakow University of Sport and Physical Education to conduct market research among Cracovia Marathon competitors to see if they accept our eco-way. The good practices implemented during the Cracovia Marathon are following:
•The official t-shirts for the participants of the run is made of 100% recycled materials.
•On the route of the Marathon there are 8 points with drinking water from the hydrants, which replace drinks in plastic bottles. The water is pouring to paper cups directly from the hydrant via special machine.
•Registration of competitors for runs takes place electronically by using the QR Codes. Also, we gave up paper leaflets as a form of promotion for our partners in favor of advertising on digital screens.
Resources needed
All changes are made on the basis of current employment. The solutions were implemented had to be implemented with sponsors’ involvement. The cooperation with technical sponsors, waterworks company and the company responsible for the service system is crucial to achieve good effects.
Evidence of success
• 11,000 t-shirts ordered and purchased by runners instead of ordering 28,000 t-shirts for every participant. Over 86% of runners evaluate the new distribution method positively.
• Water for participants on the rout of run is poured from special taps system (40% reduction of plastic bottles)
• 100% reduction of using paper.
• Reducing expenses on the purchase of T-shirts – € 111.000 per year
• Limiting expenses on the purchase of bottled water – € 8.900 per year
Potential for learning or transfer
Actually, We share good practice with other race organizers in Poland and abroad. Our solutions will be presented at the conference of the Polish Running Association this year. A new T-shirt sales system has been implemented by Poznań Marathon. We are currently planning to exchange experiences with our Italian Partner - Maratona di Ravenna. It shows that the good practices is possible to share easily and has a huge potential in minimizing waste generated during running events.
