Great Run partners with Aqua Pura

The deal will see Aqua Pura water provided at all six AJ Bell Great Run Series races, including the Great North Run, Great Manchester Run, the Great Scottish Run, and the Great South Run as well as the six junior & mini, and family races.

Aqua Pura sponsored the AJ Bell Great Run Series in 2023 and it was such a success the brand has agreed a further three-year commitment.

As part of the partnership, Aqua Pura will also be enlisting the support of its ambassador gold medal-winning triathlete Jess Learmonth MBE. The brand will be running a competition for five people to win the chance to have Jess coach them and get them ready for them to secure a place and run the Great North Run in September.

Aqua Pura is committed to sustainability and was one of the first bottled water brands to switch to 100% recycled plastic (excluding labels and caps) which has so far saved 600 tonnes of virgin plastic being created. It also introduced tethered snap caps which ensures the caps are recycled alongside the bottles. This move has saved 95 tonnes of plastic caps, across 72.5 million bottles, from being discarded. The snap caps will no doubt come in handy to runners as it makes the bottles easily resealable and they won’t get accidently dropped during the race.

Terri Cooper, Aqua Pura’s marketing manager, said: “We’re excited to be extending our relationship with the AJ Bell Great Run series for a further three years. As a brand, we’re setting the pace within the industry when it comes to reducing our impact on the environment and we were one of the first to introduce a snap-cap and 100% recycled PET bottles. Our green thinking mirrors that of The Great Run Company and our collaboration supports them in their mission to make sporting events more sustainable.”

Aqua Pura will operate branded water stations at multiple points throughout each race as well as at the end of the race to help runners rehydrate. The brand and The Great Run Company are fully committed to a ‘drink, drain and aim’ message to participants to ensure the bottles are emptied and put in bins for recycling.

Paul Foster, chief executive of The Great Run Company, said: “Water bottles are an important item on our sustainability agenda and we’re glad to be working with Aqua Pura, our Hydration Partner, to ensure discarded plastic bottles are collected and recycled.

“The new Aqua Pura bottles are made from 100% recycled PET plastic and are all 100% recyclable – including the bottle, label, and integrated lid. At our events we work hard to eliminate and reduce waste, encourage recycling and composting, and reduce littering. We’ve standardised and reduced the number of drink stations and bottles at our events, based on research and runner feedback, to reduce waste. If you don’t need water don’t take it, and any unused water will be collected and used at another event.”

With hundreds of thousands participating each year, 500,000 supporting on the streets and three million watching at home via the BBC, the AJ Bell Great Run Series has become synonymous with best-in-class races in the UK. Incredibly, over four million runners have crossed the finish line of the AJ Bell Great Run Series and each year £25 million is raised for charities.