Round the Bridges
Hamilton’s first reusable race!
Hamilton’s iconic Round the Bridges took a major step forward in 2025, becoming the event’s first year to trial reusable cups on-course.
With thousands of runners moving through hydration stations at pace, the race provided the perfect test case for a simple reuse swap at scale. The result? A system that worked seamlessly for runners, volunteers and organisers alike.
From Single-Use to Reuse
In 2024, Round the Bridges relied on approximately 16,000 single-use cups to keep runners hydrated.
In 2025, that changed. Working alongside Nonstop Solutions and supported by Hamilton City Council, the event replaced 10,000 single-use cups with FillGood reusable cups across every hydration station on the course.
The goal was simple: prove that reuse can work in fast-moving, high-throughput race environments without slowing anyone down.
97% were successfully returned into the system, significantly reducing the number of disposables used on course and cutting down litter along the route.
Why Hydration Stations Work for Reuse
Runners grabbed, drank, and returned their cups exactly as they would with single-use.
This mirrors what we’ve seen across other running events: hydration stations are one of the easiest places to introduce reuse.
They’re low-friction environments, with a predictable flow of people, clear entry and exit points, and obvious return locations. When the system is designed well, runners don’t need instructions, they just follow the flow.
The FillGood Setup
To support the hydration zones and finish line vendor village, FillGood delivered a fully reusable cup system.
We provided:
10,000 FillGood reusable cups across three hydration stations
Clear, intuitive return points at each station
On-the-ground operational support in partnership with Nonstop Solutions
Despite being an open, moving course with runners spread across kilometres, the reusable system performed strongly.
This trial formed part of Round the Bridges’ first waste minimisation and management plan, supported by Hamilton City Council.
By swapping disposables for reuse where it made sense, the event laid the groundwork for future expansion and showed what’s possible when systems are designed around how people actually move.
This is how we make reuse simple.
Keen to bring running reuse to your event?
Impact in numbers
10,000
reusables used
97%
return rate
3
hydration zones serviced
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Sky Stadium
Sky Stadium Leads Stadium‑Scale Reuse in NZ
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Round the Bays
From the course to the finish line: full reuse at the lower North Islands’ largest mass participation event.
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Venues Wellington
Venues Wellington is transforming events with reusable cups across five iconic Pōneke spaces!
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Kāpiti Half Marathon
Coming soon
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Success Stories
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