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A trail of sticky energy gel packets strewn all over the peninsula was not the view a Dunedin cyclist was hoping for after the city’s annual marathon.
Disappointed with his fellow “outdoors people”, he decided someone would have to clean up after the runners and he spent his Sunday afternoon after the race clearing the rubbish.
More than 3500 runners took part in the 46th Dunedin Marathon from Portobello to Emerson’s Brewery on Sunday.
However, some runners appear to have treated the harbour track “like a tip”.
Cyclist Clive Copeman was out on an afternoon ride following the marathon and saw energy gel packs discarded all over the place.
Mr Copeman decided to pick them up himself.
“I basically thought, ‘oh, stuff this, I’m going to spend the rest of my ride back in just picking up every bit I can see’.”
He backtracked to Taiaroa Head and started cleaning the streets.
Mr Copeman estimated he would have collected over 50 energy gel packs, but judging by the stiff southwesterly that was blowing through, more could have ended up in Otago Harbour.
By the time he reached Harwood, he was running out of places to put the gel packets.
“It’s just not nice to see when you’re in the outdoors and other people just treat it like a tip.”
Everyone using the outdoors had a responsibility to clean up after themselves, he said.
“I gather that the organisers are rather contrite about it,” he said.
Race director Becs Adlam said it was disappointing to see litter left behind after Sunday’s event.
“Information about responsible waste disposal and respecting the environment is communicated to participants through our event information and race communications.
“While the vast majority of participants do the right thing, it is clear from the images shared that some rubbish was left behind, which is disappointing and does not reflect the standards we expect from our event.”
She said organisers worked closely with EnviroWaste to make sure bins were available throughout the course.
However, she acknowledged there was room for improvement and the marathon committee would be reviewing their post-race clean-up procedures.
That could include increasing education around litter and environmental responsibility, establishing a volunteer cycle group to follow the course after the event and collect any litter that has been missed, and reviewing bin placement.