Greening Races
By Karina | October 6, 2008
I am a casual runner - by that I mean, I want to run much more than I actually do. I would LOVE to get out there 3x a week at least, but sometimes I just have a tough time getting out of bed. You know, sometimes it’s just really hard to get out of bed.
So one of the things that I try to do to make myself stay running is to sign up for races. There are always a few 5 or 10Ks out there each weekend, it’s pretty easy to put together a running schedule. However, I’ve noticed a few things about these races that can be just heartbreaking, environmentally. To start with, there is the waste - paper cups all over the track during the run, water bottles distributed and then stuck into garbage cans afterwards. Goody bags (which I do love!) full of advertisements that I need to find a way to recycle. And if you’re one of our friends trying to go without plastics, I imagine it would be incredibly hard to do so!
Last weekend I went to Pittsburgh to participate in The Great Race. I love this run - I do the 10K, and it’s got lots of tough hills but is overall a net-downhill run, with a solid finish. Plus I get to see my wonderful friends in Pittsburgh - many of whom run either the 5 or 10K as well. And any chance I get to visit Pittsburgh is a good chance.
This year I’d heard that The Great Race was greening itself, and I couldn’t wait to see how it really went. Especially after starting with what seemed to be an incredibly large crowd - it turns out that this year had the highest number of participants in history. The run went really well. Some of the changes were obvious, like paper cups for water instead of plastic, and most exciting: composting bins at the finish for banana and orange peels! They collected recyclables at the finish and even included a sheet in our race packets detailing recycling in Pittsburgh at large. More subtlely, they’re going to plant trees to off-set the carbon footprint of the race, and I’m not sure if everyone else caught this, but the free water bottle included in our goodie bag was made from BPA-free plastic.
I am so excited that the organizers of The Great Race are making an already great run even better. I would add a couple more suggestions, though - I believe the race bibs are Tyvek, and can be recycled. If they noted this in the race pack and maybe even had the address printed on the back of the bib, it would be easy for people to drop it in the mail - or collect them at the finish. The composting bins and water bottle recycling were amazing! but they were located right in the middle of the park that we finished in which was, because of the huge number of people finishing this run, a mob scene. I would advertise it (with tall signs maybe?) a little better, and I would also put one right at the exit - there’s really only one good exit out of the park, so make use of the funneling of traffic to site another collection point. Plus, I really don’t get the point of implementing disposable timing chips. Is it REALLY that hard to get people to return their chips after the race? I much prefer knowing I’m using a reusable chip that will be purposed again.
Most importantly, though, I want to know more about how The Great Race is greener. I’ve cobbled together the items above from the above linked newspapers and press releases, and also the race registration form (which helpfully suggests we also reuse safety pins). But there’s no one source for information about what has been done and what we, as runners and spectators, can do, to make this a greener event.
More information on how to green race:
- Runners World has put together a Greenteam website with resources for race directors on how to green their run.
- Check out the recent NYTimes article about greening races
- Athletes for a Fit Planet provides news and resources to race planners and athletes on how to green or participate in green races
- Don’t forget to recycle your sneakers! Also look into getting a pair that is sustainably made.
[[Photo from flickr user buddhakiwi via creative commons license.]]
Topics: Yoga & Fitness |
[…] Random Feed wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI am a casual runner - by that I mean, I want to run much more than I actually do. I would LOVE to get out there 3x a week at least, but sometimes I just have a tough time getting out of bed. You know, sometimes it’s just really hard to get out of bed. So one of the things that I try to do to make myself stay running is to sign up for races. There are always a few 5 or 10Ks out there each weekend, it’s pretty easy to put together a running schedule. However, I’ve noticed a few things about the […]
Thanks for the post Kari. Yes, i’ve been overwhelmed by the waste from the few races i have run and the many that i’ve watched. it would be great if race organizers and runners put more effort into minimizing the eco footprints from the running footprints.
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