For the first time in the history of the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the race is offering a new Green Bib program upon race registration to forgo the medals and race shirts in favour of a donation to participating sustainability charities Trans Canada Trail and Trees for Life.
The Green Bib Program is completely optional, and it’s up to runners to decide what is most important for each runner’s race day experience. Athletes who opt-in when registering for their race will donate $10 of their entry fee to one of the two participating sustainability charities in lieu of a race shirt and medal. To indicate their choice, the athletes will be given a green race bib background on race day, so volunteers know they have opted out of the finisher’s medal.
The goal of the program is to reduce the environmental impact that typically results from city-wide marathon events, while putting funds toward more sustainable causes. It will also benefit any runners who have completed numerous road race events and have accumulated a growing pile of medals and T-shirts. Several other big-city marathons around the world have adopted this green thumb concept. The TCS London Marathon gives registrants the option to receive a race shirt or have a tree planted instead.
Canada Running Series first introduced the Green Bib program at the 2023 Vancouver Half Marathon, and they have aspirations to integrate the initiative into all of their races throughout the year.
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon and half-marathon distances are already sold out, but there’s still space in the 5K event, which has been moved to Saturday morning for 2024. To secure your spot in the 2024 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon weekend, you can register here.
