Did you know that we go through over 6,000 cups in a typical 1,000 person race that just end up in the landfill and require harvesting trees to produce the paper cups? Did you know there’s a solution that is pretty darn simple and involves just one cup that you can reuse for ALL of your races and in your car and anywhere that you may need a cup in a hurry? Read below about our cupless plan this year
WILL THERE BE ANY PAPER CUPS? Yes, some. Cupless is not required and we will have cups on our courses for 2023 for the time being. BUT we are going to be reminding everyone about our cupless challenge repeatedly as we near the event! It’s our goal that you CHOOSE to make this change before we mandate it!
WHERE DO I GET A REUSABLE and COLLAPSIBLE RACE CUP? If you already have one, you are all set! Just put it in your pocket on race day! If you don’t, you can buy those in any local running shop or almost any outdoor shop! We’ll have some super affordable options at bib pick up as well to ensure that you don’t have to commit much money at all to do. You can also buy these Foot Traffic collapsible cups for just $5 or 2 for $9 in the stores.
HOW WILL YOU DISTRIBUTE WATER IN EACH CUP? We will separate our water stations into two sections to accommodate cupless participants as they approach first and those that opt for a cup will have a second station to fill. The cupless station will have volunteers simply pouring water in the cup as you hold it out. There will also be water jugs with a spigot for you to self-fill.
DO I NEED TO USE A COLLAPSIBLE CUP OR CAN I USE ANY WATER CARRIER? There are a ton of other hydration options including larger hand-helds, packs, and water belts. If you have those, you are welcome to bring those instead! Those options also offer some additional benefits given that you can store more water and drink between stations and enjoy less congestion at the water stations. Contact any Foot Traffic store if you need guidance on what options are best for you!
WHY AREN’T YOU PROVIDING FREE REUSABLE COLLAPSIBLE CUPS? This is very simple. Races that have to produce and provide thousands of free reusable cups is akin to the fallacy of providing a free reusable grocery bag to anyone going into the grocery store buying groceries. What ends up happening is we end up with a whole new issue of plastic waste with everyone expecting to have those provided at any race. We replace one issue with another one! It’s our goal to help encourage everyone to remember to simply BRING YOUR OWN reusable cup just like bringing your own reusable grocery bag that you hopefully reuse for dozens or hundreds of races throughout the years! We understand some of you may forget, and that’s OK. But eventually, we can all train ourselves to make a few small changes like this!