Paris Marathon Eliminates Single-Use Cups in Groundbreaking Sustainability Move

The Paris Marathon is making history this Sunday by becoming the first major mass participation event to completely eliminate single-use cups and plastic bottles from its course. This groundbreaking decision has divided the running community between environmental advocates and performance-focused athletes.

For the first time in marathon history, all 50,000 participants must carry their own hydration containers—whether soft flasks, collapsible cups, or hydration packs—to refill at the 13 water stations along the 26.2-mile route. The change represents a dramatic shift from traditional marathon logistics that typically see courses littered with hundreds of thousands of discarded cups.

Cari Brown, a seasoned marathoner preparing for her 11th race, exemplifies the performance concerns many runners harbor. After learning about the changes, she abandoned her personal best attempt in Paris to focus on a different race. "Any runner who has to stop and start to get water, it's going to affect your time and it's going to affect your cadence," Brown explained.

The IT manager from Woking will race wearing a hydration backpack, equipment more familiar to trail runners than road racing participants who typically prefer minimal gear. Her biggest frustration centers on the policy allowing pre-filled personal bottles for elite runners targeting sub-2:50 times—an advantage typically reserved for professional athletes.

Brown also raises safety concerns about potential dehydration risks if busy water stations discourage runners from stopping, particularly on warm days. However, race organizers have addressed these worries by increasing aid stations from eight to 13 and installing water spray systems for hot weather conditions.

On the opposite side of the debate stands Tina Muir, a former Great Britain international who has reinvented herself as a sustainability advocate. After representing her country at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships, Muir stepped away from competitive running before returning with a new mission to promote environmental responsibility in the sport.

"I had a feeling this was coming and I was so excited to see a race as big as Paris be so bold to do it," Muir said. Through her campaign group 'Racing for Sustainability,' she estimates that major marathons typically generate between one and two million discarded cups.

Muir, now famous for racing in skirts made from rubbish, believes the Paris model represents the future of mass participation events. She advocates for "personal accountability" and trusts that runners will adapt to changes that initially seem daunting.

Paris Marathon director Thomas Delpeuch describes the system as both "significant change" and "successful and efficient" following trials at the city's half marathon. Prompted by a city-wide ban on single-use plastics at Parisian races, organizers hope this initiative will eliminate waste equivalent to 660,000 plastic bottles.

Representatives from other World Marathon Majors—including London, New York, and Chicago—will observe Sunday's race to evaluate the system's viability for their own events. The success or failure of this ambitious sustainability experiment could reshape the future of marathon racing worldwide.