Indeed, but just telling people not to do it obviously isn't working. Someone once suggested having runners write their race number on their gels.
Indeed, but just telling people not to do it obviously isn't working. Someone once suggested having runners write their race number on their gels.
The trick with the Gels is not to rip the top right off just tear it so it is still attached then you only have the one thing to put away. That prevents the fiddly top going awol. No excuse for losing the whole packet though.
Bloke in front of me on the climb up Bank Hill ate his banana and then he was hanging onto the skin so I thought he would then put it away in his pack, instead he threw it over the fence into the old plantation..nice!
No country for old men.
Disappointing number of discarded wrappers on the course on Saturday. I hope these have have fallen out of peoples packs than deliberate littering of the fell.
If I take gels these days I decant them in to a gel flask which I find easier to use and carry than individual sachets and it reduces the risk of accidently dropping empty wrappers.
Anyway my first time at the TOP, great race and looking forward to next year.
And there were a lot. I picked up a few.Originally Posted by anonymouse
Will Meredith - Pennine
But banana skins and gel wrappers are not equivalent are they? One biodegrades in a couple of months, the other in a couple of decades (... or longer).Bloke in front of me on the climb up Bank Hill ate his banana and then he was hanging onto the skin so I thought he would then put it away in his pack, instead he threw it over the fence into the old plantation..nice!
banana skins take much longer than a couple of months to decompose: http://www.theguardian.com/environme...tains-scotland
and I have heard they alter the pH value/acidity of the soil/peat so damage is done.
whatever you take onto the hill should be taken off....leave only footprints. there's no excuse in my book.
I disagree. My totally unscientific experiment of leaving banana skins scattered around the garden suggests about 4-5 weeks although I admit I don't live on top of a Scottish mountain.
yes, your garden and the open moorland are very different. the point is still the same, carry rubbish off the hill. if you want to live with rubbish scattered around your garden that's your choice, the hills are for everyone and should be treated with respect
On the UTMB you get a little lightweight pouch that you attach to rucksack/bumbag on front strap, its lots easier than trying to dislocate your shoulder to get the gel wrappers in the tiny pockets behind you. I did see one runner accidently drop a wrapper, but the very next runner pick it up. :-)
On a second note just added pictures from Ogden Clough section https://www.facebook.com/racingsnakes/photos_albums
But whilst they are rotting down, they pose a threat to livestock, particularly sheep. If you've ever been at a Lakeland Classics race where Joss is handing out the prizes, he nearly always rounds off with the comment, "Please take your banana skins home; if the sheep attempt to eat them, it's a big vets' bill."
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 28-11-2013 at 07:07 PM.
I was a bit of an oddball until I was abducted by aliens; but I'm perfectly OK now!
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