Cari Brown is hooked on marathons and is preparing to compete in her 11th on Sunday.
After learning of the changes, she felt forced to abandon her plans to run a personal best in Paris and entered a different race to chase her goal.
“Unfortunately, it’s not going to be my goal marathon. Any runner who has to stop and start to get water, it’s going to affect your time and it’s going to affect your cadence,” Brown said.
Her biggest disappointment, though, is the decision to allow pre-filled personal water bottles on the course for runners targeting a time under two hours and 50 minutes.
It is a common practice in elite races to avoid athletes losing time at hydration stations, but generally not a luxury extended to those in the wider event.
“That is a massive advantage to generally younger male runners, as on average their marathon times are quicker. It also gives recognition to the fact that it [stopping for water] does affect your time,” Brown adds.
The IT manager from Woking will be running the streets of Paris with a hydration backpack. It is a tried-and-tested method for trail runners, but is less familiar for road runners who generally prefer to keep their kit as light as possible and rely on water provided along the course.
That causes concern for Brown who, while acknowledging plastic waste is an issue, believes having no water available at all in single-use paper cups on a potentially warm day is a big “risk factor”, with runners likely to skip stations if they are busy and put themselves at risk of dehydration.
Organisers insist this will not be the case, with the number of aid stations increased from eight to 13 and water spray systems in operation in case of hot weather.
Thomas Delpeuch, director of the Paris Marathon, told BBC Sport that while the system is a “significant change”, it is “successful and efficient” after a trial at the city’s half marathon last month.
Prompted by a city-wide ban two years ago on single-use plastics at all Parisian races, it is hoped this change to the marathon will eliminate waste equivalent to 660,000 plastic bottles.
“Plastic is everywhere in our life and we need strong decisions to break free. Runners have appreciated bottles and cups for years for their practicality, but things are changing now,” Delpeuch adds.
