2025 TCS London Marathon becomes first UK marathon to earn evergreen sustainability certification

2025 TCS LONDON MARATHON AWARDED EVERGREEN STATUS IN UK FIRST BY COUNCIL FOR RESPONSIBLE SPORT

• TCS London Marathon first marathon in the UK to be awarded top-tier status

• Award follows Evergreen certification awarded to organiser London Marathon Events in 2025

The Council for Responsible Sport (CRS) announced today (Tuesday 17 February) that the 2025 TCS London Marathon has been awarded its prestigious Evergreen certification – the highest level of achievement possible.

The 2025 TCS London Marathon is the first major event and marathon in the UK to be awarded Evergreen certification by the world’s leading sustainability certification programme dedicated to sports events and organisations. The event achieved 61 out of a maximum potential of 66 credits, surpassing the 55 out of 61 credits the event achieved in 2023 when it was first awarded the Gold standard certification.

The award builds on the event’s 2023 Gold certification, as well as the Evergreen certification for organisers London Marathon Events (LME) last year.

In 2025, LME again used the ReScore app, a cloud-based application for responsible event planning developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for CRS. ReScore enabled LME to assess the environmental and social impact of the TCS London Marathon, as well as report, verify, and certify against sustainability standards set by the Council. Specifically, the app offered a tracking and monitoring system, templates, resources, and best practices for transparent, efficient, and sustainable strategies.

The CRS event-level assessment is based on five key areas of social and environmental impact. These are: planning and communications; procurement; resource management; access and equity and community legacy. The ReScore app is used to consistently capture and assess performance across these critical areas.

CRS highlighted the following standout achievements at the 2025 TCS London Marathon:

• Planning and communications: LME’s sustainability strategy addresses key areas of sustainability such as energy, waste, stakeholder engagement, inclusion, accessibility, and communications.

• Procurement: purchasing decisions are guided by LME’s principles of sustainability and social responsibility. Preference is given to suppliers that demonstrate commitments to environmental conservation, ethical practices, and community engagement.

• Resource Management: a comprehensive and well-structured Waste Management Plan to minimise the event’s environmental impact. The plan includes clear objectives and outlines the classification of waste streams, procedures for handling collected materials, plans for the installation of recycling stations, guidance for volunteers, and methods for tracking waste.

• Access and Equity: an Inclusion Advisory Group is a standout initiative that connects directly with community organisations representing underrepresented groups in the event. Additionally, the DEI Playbook serves as a valuable tool to ensure various event teams are engaged in meeting inclusion objectives. Accessibility initiatives were also implemented to address the diverse needs of participants.

• Community Legacy: participants in the 2025 TCS London Marathon raised a world-record breaking total of £87.3 million for charitable causes, bringing the cumulative total raised since the first edition of the London Marathon in 1981 to £1.4 billion.

Patricia Narváez, Evaluator, Council for Responsible Sport, said: “The TCS London Marathon is setting a global benchmark for sustainability in sport and athletics. Initiatives such as Tees for Trees, the use of biofuels, the introduction of water refill stations, and medals made from recycled metals demonstrate impressive innovation. The event’s community legacy is equally meaningful — through projects like the new Green assembly area, the TCS London Marathon is redefining how participants and communities engage with mass sporting events. Its strong commitment to inclusion, celebration of cultural diversity, and collaboration with running crews to enhance accessibility ensures that everyone can be part of this remarkable event.”

Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events, said: “We’re incredibly proud that our work has once again been recognised by the Council for Responsible Sport with Evergreen status for the record-breaking 2025 TCS London Marathon. Meaningful change can only happen when we work together, and we remain committed to collaborating with our participants, partners, and stakeholders to drive progress. Our hope is that this achievement inspires others to join us in creating a more equitable, environmentally conscious, and active society.”

Vinay Singhvi, Head of UK & Ireland, TCS, said: "We congratulate London Marathon Events on achieving Evergreen certification from the Council of Responsible Sport for the 2025 TCS London Marathon. We are proud to have partnered with the team on this journey, providing technology and expertise such as our ReScore app to measure, manage, and minimise the event’s overall environmental impact. At TCS, we see sport as a powerful platform to advance sustainability, and this pioneering achievement highlights how emerging technologies are already reshaping marathons into safer, smarter, and more sustainable events. For us, this isn’t just a finish line. It's a powerful signal that we’re entering a new era of sustainable, tech-smart sport and the TCS London Marathon is paving the way for the global running community.”

The full list of events around the globe certified by the CRS can be viewed here. It includes world-leading basketball, track and field, golf, ironman and mass participation running events.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About the TCS London Marathon

• The 2026 TCS London Marathon will take place on Sunday 26 April 2026.

• The London Marathon was first held on 29 March 1981 and the millionth finisher in the history of the event crossed the line in 2016.

• Since the first London Marathon in 1981, the event has raised £1.4 billion for charity.

• The 2026 TCS London Marathon Official Charity of the Year is Marie Curie.

• London Marathon Events passes its surplus each year through corporate Gift Aid to its parent charity, the London Marathon Foundation (the operating name of The London Marathon Charitable Trust, a registered charity (283813) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales (01550741), registered office: 190 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YB).

• Since 1981, the London Marathon Foundation has awarded more than £114 million to more than 1,750 projects that inspire activity in London and across the UK.

• Find out more about the work of London Marathon Events and the London Marathon Foundation in the new Group Impact Report.

For more information, visit tcslondonmarathon.com.

About TCS

About the Council for Responsible Sport

• The Council for Responsible Sport envisions a world in which responsibly produced sports and events are the standard. Its mission is to provide objective, independent verification of organizers ' social and environmental efforts to positively impact their communities.

• Since 2007, the Council has developed and continually updates the Event Certification standards, which have been adopted by more than 250 events globally. In 2021, it expanded its reach by introducing the Responsible Sport Standard for Organizations. Also, in 2021, the Council partnered with TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), one of the world’s largest digital solutions companies, to digitize the certification process through the development of the ReScore™ App. This collaboration made reporting more efficient, streamlined, and accessible for events of all sizes.

Bank of America Chicago 13.1 Receives Evergreen Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport

CHICAGO – The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 and Council for Responsible Sport announced today the event earned Evergreen Certification, a recognition reserved for sporting events that demonstrate the highest possible commitment to environmental and social responsibility. The Chicago 13.1 debuted in 2022 with the vision to reimagine what running can be in Chicago, offering a weekend of health-and wellness-based activities for participants and community members on Chicago’s West Side.

“The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 is a stellar example of responsible sport,” said Aileen McManamon, lead certifier for the Council for Responsible Sport. “The Reimagine the Run model of bringing the half marathon to a vibrant but overlooked community in the city is definitely a ‘best practice’ case study.”

“Our team is humbled to receive Evergreen Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport,” said Carey Pinkowski, executive race director of the Bank of America Chicago 13.1. “The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 started out as an idea and was brought to life with the support of community members and businesses on Chicago’s West Side. We share and celebrate this accomplishment with everyone who played a role in making this event possible.”

The goal to reimagine running in Chicago has been a critical factor in the development and production of the Bank of America Chicago 13.1. To stay true to this vision, event organizers worked with community members, non-profit organizations and business on Chicago’s West Side to co-create an event experience that is meaningful, beneficial and representative of the West Side. The result is a world-class half marathon that starts and finishes in Garfield Park, the oldest park on the West Side, with a 13.1-mile course traveling through Humboldt and Douglass Parks while traversing the neighborhoods that line the boulevards connecting all three parks. Held in conjunction with the half marathon is a free Race Day Festival for participants and community members featuring a mix of entertainment, health and wellness activities and community activations.

Other examples of the event’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility include:

• Support of local businesses: Runners and spectators are encouraged to support the local economy race weekend by visiting and shopping at local businesses. In addition to this, the event prioritized working with West Side businesses, organizations and artists that supported the production of the event and served as vendors and performers during the race weekend festivals.

• Composting organic waste: Diverting waste from the landfill is a priority of the event, with compostable materials like food scraps and hydration cups collected by volunteers and picked up by The Urban Canopy, a local compost service. The finished compost was donated to Kuumba Tre-Ahm Community Garden in Garfield Park, where it nourishes the garden beds as a nutrient rich soil amendment. The community garden, named after the sixth principle of Kwanzaa and the owner’s two grandsons, is part of the Garfield Park Garden Network, a resident-led effort to enhance local green spaces and engage more community members in the local food system.

• Charity Program: Participants raised more than $150,000 on behalf of nine charity partners that are creating a positive impact on Chicago’s West Side and throughout the city. Each non-profit partner has a focus on empowering youth, advancing health equity and supporting community development.

• Offset race weekend travel: In 2023, the Bank of America 13.1 partnered with Native to provide participants with a way to offset emissions from travel to the event. Native met exhaustive environmental standards to be recognized as a certified B Corporation. All proceeds supported Native’s “From Waste to Fuel: Improving Agriculture and Livelihoods in Mexico” project.

• Incorporating community input and feedback: Event organizers hosted community engagement meetings leading up to race weekend to hear feedback and ideas directly from West Side residents. These conversations inspired the launch of the 1.31-mile Wellness Walk and youth events during race weekend to offer activities for a wider range of ages and abilities.

The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 is part of the Bank of America Chicago Distance Series, kicking off with the Shamrock Shuffle and concluding with the Chicago Marathon. The commitment to environmental and social responsibility is a key aspect of each event, with each race having received recognition from the Council for Responsible Sport. To learn more about each event’s commitment visit: shamrockshuffle.com, chicago13point1.com and chicagomarathon.com.