KarunaNews Story

The Green Runners is a grassroots initiative set up by athletes to reimagine the sport by cutting emissions, tackling waste and urging others to join the race against climate breakdown. It sprang from a WhatsApp group of 50 runners and since launching officially as a club three years ago, has attracted more than 3,000 members. In researching his book, We Can’t Run, TGR co-founder and professional ultra runner Damian Hall learned that a big city marathon can have a similar carbon footprint to the entire lifetime emissions of 35 people. TGR lays out four ‘green pillars’ as a friendly guide. ‘How you travel’ encourages greener travel or, better still, racing closer to home while ‘How you kit up’ means buying less, choosing sustainable gear and making-do-and-mending. ‘How you fuel’ suggests cutting back on meat and dairy, and ‘How you speak out’ calls on runners to push for industry-wide change.