Runner 'miffed' by careless actions of fellow competitors: 'Racers need to be more diligent'

Trail running competitions are pretty tough, navigating great distances and difficult terrain while trying to finish in the highest position possible. But one runner made the challenge a little more difficult for themselves by trying to respect their surroundings.

Posting on the r/trailrunning Reddit community, they detailed that after 6.2 miles of a race (10 kilometers), they decided to pick up the trash left by other runners ahead of them — in addition to a couple of items that wouldn't have been used by those participating.

In the end, they managed to collect 51 pieces of trash and posted a picture of the offending items — including their own.

"Am I over exaggerating to be a bit miffed about this?" they asked, wondering if they were making a bigger deal of the discarded waste than they should. "I had such a great day (despite a painful run) and refused to let it get me down. I just don't want to see the future of this sport impacted by something solveable like this."

Runners will often consume gel packets, bottled water, and other energy-boosting substances on the go while participating in a competition. So as not to awkwardly carry the waste for the rest of the distance, which could impact their finishing time, some will simply throw the items on the ground and hope race organizers will clear up later.

"I also don't think the onus to tackle this should be on the RD, team, or volunteers — I think the racers need to be more diligent," the original poster added. "I also chose to believe none of this was deliberately dropped."

On race days in towns or cities, when a portion of the area will likely be cordoned off to stop traffic or pedestrians from getting in the way of runners, there may be a clean-up crew when the event is finished — although this is still no excuse to litter.

Trail running events, though, often take place in countryside areas, such as woodland or mountainous paths. That means the litter can quite easily be blown by the wind and end up in animal habitats or water sources, where creatures will be put at risk from harmful plastics that might be ingested and get stuck in their digestive system. 

One runner detailed how in an ultramarathon event they were set to take part in, organizers had enforced rules to prevent littering. Rule-makers had called on participants to label disposable packaging with their bib number to keep track of discarded waste. Any runner who was found to have littered would possibly be disqualified. 

"Awesome what you did!" a grateful Redditor said. "Hopefully the trash from other runners was by accident and not intentional. Either way, people should be more mindful of littering."

"Thanks for picking all that up, especially while actually participating," another added.

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