Exercising while protecting nature is absolutely possible — even if large mass events often leave mountains of waste in their wake! A new trend is emerging in the world of running with the rise of eco-friendly races that are committed to encouraging their participants to adopt the right habits. Here is a selection of French eco-friendly running races and "plogging" initiatives where you can enjoy your favourite sport while also helping to preserve your environment!
Eco-friendly races
The Ecorun
Taking place in Vaucresson (92) on 29 October, this event is built around 3 core values:
- Health and wellbeing
- Inclusivity for people with disabilities
- Preservation of nature
There will be 6 races ranging from 7 to 20 kilometres, and a share of the registration fees is donated to the Office National des Forêts to contribute to reforestation and the general upkeep of the forest. A great opportunity to run with a noble and meaningful purpose!
The Marathon Vert
The 12th edition of the Marathon Vert will take place in Rennes on 21 & 22 October. This event aims to raise awareness of durable development through several initiatives.
- Promotion of public transport and carpooling to reach the venue
- "Good ecological practice" charter distributed to each participant
- Waste collection along the entire route
A share of the proceeds will be reinvested in tree planting in India, Portugal, and France.
The Eco-trail de Paris
Taking place on 16 March in Paris across several sites (Versailles, Meudon, Saint-Cloud, the Eiffel Tower...), the Ecotrail features routes ranging from 10 to 80 kilometres and will showcase numerous environmental initiatives:
- Promotion of sustainable transport
- Elimination of unnecessary packaging
- Individual waste bags
- Highlighting natural heritage along the route
- Waste reduction and sorting initiatives
This mass event will be an opportunity to run with good intentions, beyond purely sporting goals.
Plogging initiatives
The new trend from Sweden involves running while picking up litter. Known as "plogging", this movement is growing rapidly in France. Certain events and organisations are working to unite individual efforts and communicate the results achieved, in order to persuade more and more runners to join this practice that is so beneficial for the environment.
The Run Eco Team: this is not a specific event or race but rather an association that seeks to promote plogging. Today, 23,000 followers of the Run Eco Team Facebook page regularly post photos of the waste they collect while running. With its slogan "one run, one piece of litter", the association has already won over many runners to this practice, and the movement is only growing!
L'Échappée verte: a giant plogging event taking place at the Wood de Vincennes on Sunday 30 September. It is of course an opportunity to run across three routes while collecting all the litter along the way. The organisation equips each participant with a dedicated kit including t-shirts, bin bags, and protective gloves. At the end of the race, a big picnic is offered to all participants. This initiative is part of the national "Nettoyons la Nature" weekend, which last year resulted in nearly 530 tonnes of waste collected across the country.
Running without harming the planet is absolutely possible. Running is fundamentally a low-impact activity for the environment. It simply requires adopting the right habits to reduce the ecological footprint of every race, especially large events. This means not dropping litter, using recyclable packaging, and choosing the least polluting transport options. There are countless ways to make every running race more eco-friendly, and at Cimalp — where preserving our playground is close to our hearts — this is a fundamental challenge we embrace by developing increasingly sustainable products with the lowest possible environmental impact.
