Sustainability
With sustainability vital to all our futures, The Royal Parks do everything we can to help reduce the impact of the Royal Parks Half Marathon on the environment. Here at the Royal Parks Half, we have committed to making the event as sustainable as possible, while maintaining the high-quality race experience that everyone deserves.
Steps we're taking on race day and beyond
🖥️ All race communications are digital, making them more accessible while also lowering our carbon footprint by reducing paper waste. Our race packs contain the race numbers and baggage label only, meaning no unnecessary printouts.
🏅 Our medals are unique. Since the race began in 2008, we’ve continued the tradition of wooden medals, using FSC-certified wood since 2012.
🚮 In the event village, we have staffed designated waste stations and separate waste to be recycled where possible.
🎊 We ask everyone, including charity partners and sponsors, to avoid using confetti cannons, balloons, or glitter in their celebrations.
👟 JogOn will be in the event village on race day, where people can donate unwanted running shoes, which are redistributed to those in need.
🧥 Runners are advised to bring an old jumper or top to wear before they begin the race to keep warm, they can then drop this before they start and clothing is collected and donated to charity.
International travel to the Royal Parks Half
International participant travel is the largest contributor to the carbon footprint of the Royal Parks Half Marathon, accounting for 90.5% of participant travel emissions for the 2024 event.
Across our event, we're taking action to reduce our environmental impact while monitoring our carbon footprint closely.
We have stopped working with International Tour Operators who sell package tours including half marathon entries and have introduced a separate ballot for entrants living outside the UK to limit the number of entries for those travelling from overseas.
Reducing the number of people travelling by air to participate will have a significant impact on reducing our carbon footprint as we move toward our goal of becoming the one of the UK’s most sustainable major half marathons.
Hydration on course
Single-use plastics are a huge part of the impact of races like the Royal Parks Half, so we’ve removed them from the equation and we need your support.
We encourage all our runners to be self-sufficient with their hydration but also recognise that different runners have different needs, therefore there will be water stations on the route featuring both refill points and compostable cups, ensuring all runners have access to water during the race.
We’re working to reduce any waste associated with water stations, meaning a cleaner and more sustainable race for everyone.
We also encourage all of our runners to practice training and racing with this in mind, using whatever hydration method you wish, so that long term we can all commit to ditching plastic bottles for good.
(Snow)Drop the finisher top
We offer a t-shirt opt-out option where runners can choose to opt-out of receiving a finisher t-shirt and instead, contribute to the planting of snowdrops and wildflowers along the half-marathon route.
Thanks to our 2024 opt-out, we planted over 24,000 snowdrops and created a wildflower meadow in The Green Park.
Environmental Policy
As part of our commitment to be sustainable, we’ve developed an environmental policy which details everything we’re doing to help achieve this. We’re encouraging all our partners, charities and runners to join us in this movement and follow the principles outlined in the policy.
You can read the full environmental policy below
