Organisers have announced that Wessex Water will continue to support the Bath Half Marathon in achieving their sustainability targets using specialist resources and equipment to provide drinking water at ‘HydroZones’ on the course route and in the Runners Village.

Andrew Taylor, Race Director of the Bath Half Marathon, said: “Climate change is forcing us all to change our patterns of behaviour. Running events also have to play our part in helping to reduce consumption and waste, and to respect the council’s ban on single use plastic bottles at public events.

We’re grateful for the continuing support from Wessex Water. This will be the third year they have provided mains drinking water for the event, enabling us to replace plastic bottled water.

We’ve been steadily working to reduce the environmental footprint of our event for many years, measuring outputs and working with event partners to reduce consumption and waste.”

The Bath Half Marathon was the first public event in Bath & North East Somerset, and the first road race in the UK to win a prestigious The Greener Festival TGF Sustainability Award and one of the first large road races in the UK to replace plastic bottled water in 2020.

Organisers intend increasing the number of ‘HydroZones’ providing mains drinking water on the course route at this year’s race on Sunday 15 October, and will also increasing the number and visibility of water stations in the Runners Village in Royal Victoria Park.

“It is important that runners have easy access to drinking water during the race and after the finish. Runners are typically self-sufficient and are used to carrying their own water on their training runs. We want to make it as easy as possible for runners on the day, with refill points at clearly marked HydroZone water stations and cupped water for those who prefer not to run with a bottle. Paper cups collected from our water stations are composted with garden green waste by a local partner.”

Branded ‘BATHALF’ reusable and dishwasher-safe runners’ water bottles can be purchased though the event website, and a limited number will be available for purchase on race weekend. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Andrew Taylor, Race Director of the Bath Half Marathon, said: “We’ve been steadily working to reduce the environmental footprint of our event for many years and after a successful trial in 2019 we were one of the first large road races in the UK to replace plastic bottled water in 2020”.

Alice Millard, Community Engagement Coordinator for Wessex Water, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Bath Half Marathon again and support their approach to sustainability and help reduce single use plastic waste. Every year we work towards making improvements on water provision for events and Bath Half Marathon have been a great partner in enabling us to explore more ways to become more environmentally friendly in our methodology. We want to encourage people to drink more tap water and avoid the use of plastic bottles and with extra refill stations around the course for 2023, we’re proud to be keeping runners and spectators hydrated and ensure that everyone has access to free tap water around the course. Good luck to everyone taking part!”

Based in Bath, Wessex Water provides water and sewerage services to 2.8 million customers and supports a variety of local events.