On November 5, the 'Muhae Run' will take place in Seoul's World Cup Park, promoting a 'trash-free marathon' and addressing the waste commonly generated during running events. Following the 2026 Seoul Marathon, social media was flooded with images showing the environmental impact of marathons, with discarded plastic cups, energy gel wrappers, and plastic raincoats littering the ground. This initiative, organized by a non-profit group 'People Who Clean the Earth', seeks to propose sustainable practices in running events while raising awareness about the environmental crisis exacerbated by such mass events.

The Muhae Run, initiated last year, aims to reduce garbage by implementing a variety of innovative strategies, such as providing runners with reusable plastic cups instead of disposable paper ones, and creating race bibs and bags from donated materials. The event chooses not to award traditional medals, opting instead to demonstrate a way to create them from paper bibs in a crafting event. The focus is on reducing disposable goods significantly, demonstrating that it is feasible to conduct large-scale running events while being more environmentally conscious.

Last year's event was reportedly a resounding success, with only a single large banner being the sole source of waste created. An impressive 74% of surveyed participants acknowledged that they felt a sustainable marathon was indeed attainable. The organizers hope that the lessons learned from the Muhae Run will encourage other running events to follow suit, thus extending the outreach of sustainable practices within the sport and beyond, raising awareness regarding waste reduction during such events.