
Plastic sachets found in a stormwater drain a full week after Two Oceans ©Karoline Hanks

Typical sight during road marathons – plastic everywhere ©Hanno Langenhoven
The scary facts about sachets
Old Mutual Two Oceans 21 and 56K plastic stats (2013)
– water sachets 952 000 (x100 ml)
– Powerade sachets 180 000 (x100ml)
– Coke cups (wax lining) 112 000 (x175ml)
– plastic bottles (half filled) 136 800 (x250ml)
– waste bin liners 1 000
– plastic refuse bags 15 000
– goody bags (polyester) 26 000
(table by Karoline Hanks, stats from OMTOM)

Water sachets littering the environment after a road marathon ©Rob Tarr
Several road races in the Western Cape have already committed to becoming sachet-free events (the Milkwood 21km in February was the first road event in South Africa to be sachet-free, followed by the Festival of Running, the Camel Run and the Grape Run [road/trail]). The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon are working hard to find a workable alternative to the use of sachets, and hopefully the World’s Most Beautiful Marathon can lead the way by becoming the world’s most environmentally-aware road running event.
2 Comments
Great article…and very interesting to get the scientific perspective on hydration. One of the greatest problems is the need for 3 water tables in a 5 km race! It is long overdue that runners take full responsibility and we find an alternative to the sachets used. The more we talk about this, the more ‘normal’ it will become to say NO to single use plastic.
Interesting, am actually doing my project regarding sachet water