RunCzech has long been associated with promoting a healthy lifestyle and sporting spirit, with hundreds of thousands of people all over the world rallying around our philosophy that, “ALL RUNNERS ARE BEAUTIFUL”. But while many runners know us for organizing beautiful races, we have also been focused on creating a more beautiful environment, implementing activities that support the ecology for several years. And taking groundbreaking steps to help the environment in the future.
We are committed to maintaining environmental stability, minimizing waste, recycling what we do produce and converting it into a reusable product.
Minimizing waste:
- No plastic cups: RunCzech races are free of plastic cups. This has been a long-standing policy. Paper cups, glass and reusable bottles are the law here.
- Pure Nature Run: At the Mattoni Liberec Nature Run all participants are required to carry their own re-fillable bottles. Conveniently located bins are provided for all recyclable materials, so that the waste does not end up in nature and is efficiently sorted.
- Paper free: We have also adopted a “paper free” strategy. The vast majority of information about RunCzech and our partners is now conveyed digitally, online. What’s more, runners’ race confirmations are provided via RunCzech application.
- Reducing emissions: We are constantly looking for ways of reducing traffic in the city center on, and around race days, limiting pollution and preserving fossil fuels. Thousands of participants and fans, at our urging, arrive at events on foot or by bicycle. And thanks to cooperation from transport officials, free public transport tickets are provided on days of the events. Czech Railways and RunCzech also offer discounts for participants arriving from outside of Prague. And thanks to Volkswagen, our long-term partner, we are using and promoting more electric-powered vehicles during the races
Waste recovery:
- Careful recycling: Our partner KOMWAG sweeps down the track immediately after the last competitor has finished, harvesting whatever waste has been left behind. The same is true during regional races in Karlovy Vary, České Budějovice, Olomouc, Ústí nad Labem and Liberec. In addition, during the races the technical facilities are equipped with bins for sorting all bottles into boxes called “PETer”.
- 50% rPET: Our longtime partner Mattoni uses bottles that are made from 50 percent recycled bottles (rPET).
- Equipment that saves the oceans: The adidas brand, one of our major partners, is committed to sustainable innovations in the long term. adidas is also producing sports equipment from upcycled ocean plastic be it functional apparel, swimwear or running shoes which are also available in our adidas running – Prague Marathon Store. As a next step, adidas wants to eliminate the use of virgin plastics by 2024, and start using only recycled plastic in all their products.
Convert waste into value:
- Plastic Bottles as Currency: On special occasions, visitors to our Running Mall can pay for products and services with PET bottles. They can purchase quality coffee for five bottles, the entry to the sport lounge for fifteen or a running t-shirt for twenty.
- Use of old shoes: We are even recycling running equipment. Running Mall visitors can bring old running shoes and clothing which we donate to charity.
- Running for trees: In 14 years of cooperation with the Partnership Foundation, we have managed to plant more than three thousand trees in the Czech Republic.
- Cleaning and running: We organize various plogging runs, through which we spread the awareness of the whole issue. The participants are cleaning the surroundings while running.
As a major event, we have to set an example and be a source of inspiration. We are currently placing great emphasis on all these activities. At the same time, we are working on further development of environmental measures. We know that we are not perfect yet but we do our best.
One of our visions is to capture the human energy that an individual runner produces during a long-distance run.
We know we all still have a long way to go. But our goal is to become one of the most celebrated, environmentally friendly organizations in the world. And we’re going—as our runners all do—as fast as we can.
