10,000 runners will compete this summer.

Every year, the Cork City Marathon attracts thousands of people to the city while raising much-needed money for charity.

With all that footfall comes a tremendous boom to the local economy and a fantastic buzz around the city. Unfortunately, the increase in people can also mean an increase in waste and litter.

This year, however, Marathon organisers want to help tackle this problem by continuing to eliminate single-use plastic on the scenic running route that passes key locations such as Blackrock Castle, the Lee estuary, and the Jack Lynch Tunnel.

Organisers have also launched the ‘Tees for Trees’ initiative which allows participants to swap their official marathon t-shirt and have a tree planted for them instead.

With over 10,000 runners from all over Ireland and the world coming to Cork for the event, that is a lot of trees.

Registration for the marathon is now open and participants can select to plant a tree instead of taking a t-shirt when filling out the registration form.