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The Great Run Company
2025 Environmental Report
The “Hydration Intensity” Comparison N.B. The emissions figures cited in this section represent the embodied carbon of the products (packaging and ingredients) only. They do not include the transport logistics required to distribute these items to aid stations Conclusion Switching from bottles to refills is not a marginal gain; it is a transformative one by offering a 90% reduction in hydration emissions. If applied to the full road portfolio, this single operational change would save ~60 tonnes of carbon annually The Hydration Strategy We are actively transitioning our events away from reliance on packaged water. Refill Infrastructure: We have now introduced water refill stations at the Start and Finish lines of all events, enabling runners to self-supply. Plastic Reduction: We successfully removed single- use plastic bottles from 7 of our 13 events, including the Great North 10k, Great North Swim, 13 Valleys, and all four Beyond Events. Remaining Challenge: Single-use plastic bottles were provided at the remaining 6 events. Where used, the average consumption was 5.0 bottles per runner (at ~0.097 kgCO2e per bottle), identifying this as a key area for continued focus.
Metric
Bottled Water Model (Road Events)
Refill / Cupless Model (Great North 10k)
Method
Single-use rPET Bottles
Mains Water Tankers + Paper Cups
Total Emissions
65.91 tCO₂e (Bottles Only)
0.25 tCO₂e (Water + Cups Only)
Emissions per Runner
0.39 kgCO₂e
0.04 kgCO₂e
Efficiency Gap
Baseline (0% Reduction)
90% Reduction
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