RUNNERS need regular re-fuelling but for the first time, this year’s St Michael’s Rowing Club (SMRC) Urban Run is going to be a Zero Waste Race without the usual trail of abandoned plastic water cups.
Organisers of the run, which takes place this Sunday, October 7, in conjunction with Limerick City and County Council have taken on a reuse challenge and committed to a zero waste 10k.
The Urban Run will be Limerick’s marks the launch of ReUse Month, which will have events taking place over the next few weeks to promote re-using, re-purposing, or upcycling.
The decision to have a zero waste race follows last year’s very successful run after which SMRC members had vivid memories of the many plastic bottles they had to pick up., many of which had just a few sips taken out of them according to club volunteers.
Club Captain Brian Richardson felt the need to do something and contacted Limerick City and County Council’s Environment Awareness Officer for guidance and assistance.
Now, contenders have been asked to bring their own self-watering pouches. The 5km race will have no water station on the route and the 10km will have one watering station at the half-way point.
This station will be run by SMRC volunteers supplying #RunReuseRefill glasses which will be filled by volunteers. Another team of volunteers will be further down from the water station with large ‘skip’ bags and they will encourage runners to put the reusable glasses in the bag.
The glasses will be returned to the SMRC clubhouse to be washed and stored for the next time they are needed.
Limerick City and County Council has invested in #RunReuseRefill cups and they will be made available to other volunteer groups for similar races.
Mayor James Collins said: “This is a fantastic initiative and it combines two important aspects of our lives – keeping fit and helping to keep the environment clean. I want to applaud St Michael’s Rowing Club for doing something about the amount of rubbish left following last year’s run and help make a difference for our city and our environment.”
