The London Landmarks Half Marathon is an event born out of a deep love for our amazing capital, and it’s important to us that we reduce our environmental impact as much as we can. 

REDUCE YOUR IMPACT ON LLHM 2025 RACE DAY

The steps we’re taking to become more sustainable 

Pre-event 

PARTICIPANT COMMUNICATIONS 

From pre-registering to receiving official finish times, all LLHM participant communications are digital and sent by email. The LLHM race pack, containing only your race bib, is sent by post and we encourage runners to recycle the yellow paper envelope. By not posting additional communications such as congratulations/commiseration magazines to runners who have entered the public place ballot, we reduce paper wastage and energy use. 

TRAINING T-SHIRTS 

Each year, runners can buy a training t-shirt to prepare for race day. Each t-shirt is made from recycled materials, with at least 6 plastic bottles going into the making of each t-shirt.   

On race day 

TRAVEL 

We strongly encourage all LLHM runners, charity partners, performers and all other stakeholders to travel by public transport on race day. Not only is this the most convenient way for participants to arrive within walking distance from the start line, it also minimises congestion and therefore pollution in central London on race day. 

WATER STATIONS 

Where possible, we will always strive to be a plastic bottle free event, with all water stations using paper cups. If high winds are forecast for race day, it may be too challenging to deliver our water stations using paper cups, and we would need to offer bottled water instead to ensure all runners stay properly hydrated. In this case, the bottles used will always be 100% recycled and recyclable. 
 
If possible, we encourage all runners to bring your own pre-filled reusable drinks bottle/ race belt/hydration vest with you, that you can refill at our water stations. 

SIGNAGE 

The vast majority of our signage, branding and scrim on race day is generic for reuse year on year. In between events, our signage is securely stored so that it’s kept in good condition for maximum reuse. 

VOLUNTEER LUNCHES 

All lunches provided for event staff and volunteers at the LLHM 2025 race day will be meat-free. 

CHARITY CHEER STATIONS 

Our charity partners are a huge part of the LLHM, lining the race route with colourful and supportive cheer stations. We encourage all charities to promote sustainability on race day by: 

  • Reducing use of single-use plastic 
  • Not using balloons 
  • Not using plastic ‘bang-bang’ cheering sticks 
  • Reusing event materials 
  • Not giving out leaflets or handouts that could cause litter 
  • Limiting the amount of general waste each cheer station creates and recycle if possible 

BEAUTY BANKS

Beauty Banks provide Refresh stations along the LLHM 2025 route to provide free sanitary products and other useful personal care items such as hair ties and tissues. Beauty Banks is a fantastic charity that exists to end hygiene poverty in the UK.

Any surplus sanitary or personal care items that are unused on race day are returned to Beauty Banks to be distributed amongst women’s refuge centres, schools, community centres and charities.

DISCARDED CLOTHING AT START LINE 

Each year we work with the British Heart Foundation to ensure clothing discarded at the start line is collected and donated and resold locally at their BHF clothing shops. On LLHM 2024 race day, the team at BHF collected 302 bags of donations, with an estimated total sellable value of £10,191 for heart research. 

For LLHM 2025, if you plan to wear an old jumper to keep warm and then discard prior to starting, please look out for the signposted pens in the Start Area. Please only donate your item in this area. 

The BHF love turning unwanted clothing into lifesaving research that will help transform the lives of people living with heart and circulatory conditions. Donating your unwanted clothing at the half marathon start line, will help the BHF fund breakthroughs into heart disease, to power science that keeps families together for longer.   

DONATED RUNNING SHOES 

For LLHM 2025, we will be working with JogOn to give your shoes a second life. Visit our JogOn 'shoe bin’ in our Baggage Bus area on race day and donate your unwanted shoes to prevent them ending up in landfill.   

Simply tie the shoes together at the laces to form a pair and drop them in our ‘shoe bin’. JogOn will inspect, organise, and distribute them to various hubs around the world where individuals are in need of footwear. To find out more about JogOn and their mission, visit their website.  

GOODY BAGS 

All runners receive a groovy yellow goody bag at the Finish Line, and these bags are specifically designed to be re-usable. Whether rocking it at the gym, taking to a fitness class or using on your commute; you can use your LLHM bag with pride again and again. 

INSIDE YOUR GOODY BAG 

For LLHM 2025, you will find a refreshing Vitamin Well drink and a can of water inside your goody bag. All Vitamin Well bottles are made of 100% recycled plastics, and your can of water will be made from aluminium, which is considered to be infinitely recyclable and a more sustainable solution to plastic. Please recycle both your bottle and can after use. There will be no leaflets or marketing materials inside your bag to reduce wastage. 

FINISHER T-SHIRTS AND MEDALS 

Any surplus LLHM kit will be donated by The Great Run Company (on behalf of LLHM) to Kit Aid, a volunteer-run charity which recycles leftover sports kits by distributing to children and adults across the developing world. Any remaining medals will be sustainably recycled. 

FOIL BLANKETS 

The LLHM does not hand out foil blankets to runners at the finish line as these are single-use and not the most effective at keeping runners warm in cold conditions. 

HEAD OFFICE RECYCLING 

The LLHM headquarters are continually taking steps to reduce waste and promote paperless working practices internally. Our office has facilities to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic and most food containers. We do not use disposable cups and we have a secure print function which reduces the amount of unnecessary printing. 

If you have any questions, feedback, or recommendations or can offer assistance with our sustainability plans, please contact [email protected]