Paris Marathon Goes Cupless, Road Runner Loses It

Alex Cyr in an op-ed for Marathon Handbook:

Runners had to decide which part of this new model sounded most dreadful: lugging a flask for 26 miles and braving potential mid-race lineups just to hydrate; or going full-Sahara and risking dehydration to avoid the awkwardness of carrying water; or accepting that all of it — however virtuous it may appear on Instagram — had next to no impact on the race’s footprint anyway. Yes, the Paris Marathon jeopardized the performance and safety of its runners for negligible, if not symbolic, sustainability gains.

Oh the dreadful horror of having to lug a flask for 26 miles.

Yes, it’s a logistical challenge to try to provide efficient aid stations for thousands of runners compared to the few that trickle in at an trail race, stretched out by the terrain of the course, that I give Alex. But his main argument is that the CO2 saving of going cupless is an environmental rounding error and not worth the effort. Which is just a lazy argument letting everyone off the hook in trying to reshape the way we operate, cause “our individual efforts anyway don’t make a difference”. But it’s exactly this thinking that leads us to not caring about our own actions and those of others. Let’s care more. Let’s try new things. Let’s believe that our small efforts can lead to bigger change.