Cups of water only for races in the Phoenix Park

nerraw1111

According to DCM facebook page: "OPW think bottles create too much rubbish within the park, so for now its cups in all events in the Park for 2014, but if sufficient people request bottles we can go back and make a case for the Half marathon and the Marathon."

What say you? I hate cups but I think it's ok for the section through the park, given there will be bottles at miles 3 and 9, with cups just at mile 6.

LaHaine

nerraw1111 wrote: »

According to DCM facebook page: "OPW think bottles create too much rubbish within the park, so for now its cups in all events in the Park for 2014, but if sufficient people request bottles we can go back and make a case for the Half marathon and the Marathon."

What say you? I hate cups but I think it's ok for the section through the park, given there will be bottles at miles 3 and 9, with cups just at mile 6.

Sounds fair to me. Always amazes me how many people fling bottles into bushes. The clean up must be a right pain.

Maybe keep the bottles for the full marathon. But even at that I dont think its that big of an issue.

ger664

From what I have read it only concerns the water stop in the Park for the Marathon. While I find bottles convenient they become a trip hazard for people at the tail of the field. There is also a huge waste of resources as most get thrown on the side of the road half full. I and others have seen runners carry bottles well past the station and then discard them by throwing them into hedges and peoples front gardens etc. Most continental Marathons give out water in cups, personally I dont mind getting my water in cups as long as I get it when I want it.

Cabaal

I'd have no problems with cups through the park section of the marathon, I have to agree with the OPW on this one.

You can't throw a empty cup nearly as far as you can throw a bottle, so litter will be over a smaller area due to this

Murph_D

While it's much easier to drink from a bottle, I don't blame the OPW. Bottled water is an environmental travesty on so many levels that some local authorities, mostly in Canada I believe, are actually considering banning it entirely from the sales-distribution chain. It's a matter of time, really. The boneheads throwing bottles into rivers, front gardens, bushes and gardens are really just the tip of the iceberg, IMO. Having said that, I dislike drinking from (hopefully paper) cups as much as any other average runner, but if needs must...

Would that bottled water and those gel pouches were banned from every event to control litter.

Used to think bottled water was so convenient. But walked through the Gap of Dunloe in the wake of the Killarney Adventure Race and it was depressing. I can take items dropped on a road or near the side in a run where they will be collected, and actually are collected. But you'd have to wonder at the people who fling these things aside, those hard plastic bottles thrown over ditches yards from the road and still there a long time after, empty gel sachets presumably blown from the road and lying around, why would someone not simply retain their rubbish or leave it at designated spots?

carlton36

nerraw1111 wrote: »

According to DCM facebook page: "OPW think bottles create too much rubbish within the park, so for now its cups in all events in the Park for 2014, but if sufficient people request bottles we can go back and make a case for the Half marathon and the Marathon."

What say you? I hate cups but I think it's ok for the section through the park, given there will be bottles at miles 3 and 9, with cups just at mile 6.

If you want to have your say then click on the link on the DCM Facebook and answer the 3 questions in the survey.
Interestingly 2 of the questions relate to the half marathon which is obviously in the park but the 3rd of the questions relates to the marathon. I'm inclined to think this is a mistake and not intended to cover the issue for all the drink stations in the marathon. "Which would you prefer us to use at the drink stations in next years Airtricity Dublin Marathon?"

I'd be in favour of bottles but would also be strongly in favour of people disposing of them as well as all their gel wrappers properly, which isn't a big ask.

hypersonic

Why not put super magnets in the bottles to make they easy to collect! :pac:
I'm off to kickstarter I'm going to be rich, rich I tell you

ardmacha

Maybe station a few litter wardens around on the day, the fines could fund the clean up.

LaHaine

CapriSun style water pouches would actually be pretty handy. Safe to drop and easy to drink out of.

ultraman1

id be in favour of no water or drinks at the race series,,,

tHE vAGGABOND

TBH this is a good decision...

I paced 4.30 in DCM last year, and 4.40 this year and we had big groups both times, and the state of the ground around water stations is always a total mess, and I have seen multiple people both years roll their ankle on disgarded bottles...

Running is a bit of a selfish sport by its nature of getting out and doing your own thing, but those at the sharp end of the marathon and other longer races ALWAYS ignore/forget about the 10k people behind them when they make zero effort to get bottles anywhere near a bin and just throw on the ground...