Guest Post by Tina Muir.
Six years ago, Tina Muir founded Running for Real, a community and podcast to help runners not only find personal fulfillment in their sport, but to contribute positively to the world around them. She and her co-author, Zoë Rom, are expanding on that mission with their new book, Becoming a Sustainable Runner.
In the “Encourage Sustainable Events” chapter of the book, they examine ways that races can limit their negative impact on the environment and the neighborhoods that participants run through, while making sure that all runners feel welcome to participate.
Read excerpts from the chapter below for some ways you can help races become more sustainable.
Check out the website to get Tina’s FREE “Beyond Running” sustainability tips.
Becoming a Sustainable Runner is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Target, and many independent bookstores.
Excerpts from Chapter 11, “Encourage Sustainable Events”:
There is enough to think about (or should we say obsess about?) on race day without adding climate concerns or the sustainability rating we would give our local event. We already have too much going on in our brains. In those final few hours before a race, time slows down. The mind is overrun with potential disaster situations that could derail our race. We know there is nothing we can do to control most outside factors (no matter how many times we check the weather!), but as adrenaline rushes through our body and our senses are on high alert, our brain is on the lookout for danger. Remote problems like the effects of climate change feel distant and unimportant in that moment.
An issue like climate change is big and complicated; therefore, the solutions are going to be big and complicated too. That said, there are several things that we can do to make a big impact. This chapter will break down how race directors can make changes, how brands can be more proactive, and how everything can fall into place once we, the participants, take the first step to speak up. We don’t have to use precious race-day energy on sustainability, but we will explain how race day is one of the best ways the running industry can pivot to make positive change. Let’s get to it.
Behave Responsibly
When it comes to our climate impact on race day, behaving responsibly generally means planning ahead as best we can up to race day, and then it falls to the race directors. We don’t need to live like Greta Thunberg or carry our own stainless steel, reusable water bottle with us in a road race to make a difference—although we should be sure to dispose of our products responsibly.
Fernanda Maciel, women’s winner of the 2009 TDS Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, powerfully brought this point home in a bonus episode of the Running Realized podcast, which was a collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordi- nation of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She saw the impact of visitors when she completed one of her White Flow projects in Aconquija National Park. Fernanda’s White Flow projects are iconic runs in some of the most beautiful and dangerous locations around the world, undertaken with the goal of promoting environmental and social issues. “You have so many visitors on this mountain that the exhibi- tion companies in Aconquija remove 22,000 kg (48,000 lb) of rubbish from the base camp per season, which comprises just three months of the year,” says Maciel. “There is a crazy amount of rubbish that visitors generate and leave on the mountain. It would be simple enough for visitors to bring a strong bag, and then carry their rubbish down to the entrance of the park. But, no, the visitors come and get tired from altitude sickness, and they cannot bring it down. Then I ask you: Why do you climb; why do you go for the mountains if you are not able to bring a bag, if you are not able to leave no trace? The first rule that I learned on the mountain was to leave no trace.”
This leads to thinking about our own waste accumulation. The packaging that remains from our fueling may seem insignificant when we look at our overall consumption, but when it is combined with others’ waste, the volume is staggering. Road and track running amasses a far greater amount of accumulated waste than trail events. If the average runner consumes four to six fueling items over 26.2 miles, the streets of New York City could be littered with 300,000 fueling packets on the day of their annual marathon! Road running and track events do, however, have event management teams in place to process the waste, with volunteers and staff ensuring that the removal process is as effective as possible.
Trail runners carry most of what they need with them, and it is easier to keep waste packaging in packs to be disposed of responsibly after the race. Pack- ing our fuel and taking it back home gives us the opportunity to decide where it ends up. TerraCycle, whose mission is eliminating the idea of waste, allows businesses, governments, and individuals to redirect their trash out of landfills and incinerators, and they will recycle nutrition packets. TerraCycle has a partner- ship with GU Energy Labs, and together they recycle all brands of performance nutrition packaging. All consumers need to do is to create an account, collect the packages, print out a prepaid label, and ship the packets to them to be recycled. There are also TerraCycle drop-off points all over the world, making it even easier to recycle your nutrition packages.
Even though running events account for the tiniest fraction of a percentage of the environmental problems we’re facing, targeting them for change is a good use of time and energy because they represent a collective way of thinking that must rapidly shift. The Council for Responsible Sport is doing a lot of the work for race directors by providing a certification program that offers a framework to help assess and certify their events’ environmental impacts. This includes plan- ning and communications, procurement, resource management, access, equity, and community legacy. According to the Council for Responsible Sport, their vision is “a world where responsibly produced sports events are the norm and its mission is to provide objective, independent verification of the socially and environmentally responsible work event organizers are doing to make a difference in their communities. A responsible event is one that undertakes a holistic assessment of the ways the event affects people, generates economic activity, and uses raw materials and energy that affect local ecosystems and Earth’s broader ecology” (Villalobos 2020).
A lot of sustainable changes will require individual runners to speak up and ask for them, but the Council for Responsible Sport is making it easier for race management organizations to make some of them on their own. While the most important factor will always be eliminating impact wherever possible, alternate options and solutions are ready for most of the biggest climate-contributing human activities; we just have to make it clear that we want them.
Ensure Access and Equity
Beyond the environmental viewpoint on sustainability, for races to survive and thrive in the years to come, they need to be welcoming to everyone who runs or is running-curious. There are runners who do not feel that the current racing scene is a safe space for them—and for good reason. While the running community is seen by some as welcoming, we have work to do. Bringing in runners from all backgrounds and experiences, rather than appealing to a small subset of the population, not only helps race organizers broaden their world view but will also create better events. Races where runners feel comfortable to be themselves means runners who come back year after year, bringing more friends each time.
Chris Mosier, activist and founder of the website TransAthlete, believes in the power of inclusivity to change the world, and he advocates for equity for all groups, especially trans people: “Running is universal. It doesn’t matter your age, race, gender identity, hometown, or faith—we can bring communities together through running. People come to running to be a part of a group of like-minded folks—after all, they could do it alone, but they are choosing to sign up for your event. We must create training and racing environ-ments that openly welcome and embrace runners from all backgrounds, identities, and abilities. Many people turn to running to escape, if only for a short time, the rest of their lives. Every person should have access to running.”
How does a race director know if their event is considered welcoming? According to Mosier, “Race directors and training group leaders can know if they are doing a good job by looking around first: Does everyone at your event look the same? What does your leadership team look like? While we can’t know each part of every person’s identity,we can make efforts to openly include all runners, both in running our races and in the teams that put those races on.”
Once again, while we are not all race directors, one of the best things that we can do is encourage race directors to make changes by showing them we are prepared to take time out of our day to speak up on behalf of those who are not represented.
Think about previous racing events you have been to, or look around at your next local race. Who isn’t showing up? We need to be able to identify who might constitute an underrepresented and underserved population in our community before we can begin the work to include them. This means considering what barriers might be preventing them from participating. It could be language, the absence of categories that speak to runners’ gender identity or disability, lack of equipment or gear, the expense of registration fees, lack of transportation or public transportation to get to the race, and, last but not least, safety and feelings of acceptance. It is difficult to determine which factors are preventing inclusion, especially if many come into play, but adding a Runner Requests section on event registration pages may offer more insight. Including diverse images in promotional materials makes runners feel that their feedback will be welcomed, but this is not just a box to check that will make runners feel welcome on its own. As visu- ally impaired and blind runners rely on guides to support them during races, free entry for guides and ease of sign-up are small but important steps to making the community feel that their participation matters.
Consider the Community Impact
For most of us, races do not pass through our neighborhoods or affect any part of our day beyond road closures and a little extra traffic. The impact of running events on the local communities races do traverse through is rarely given any thought. Considering the race from the viewpoint of area residents can give a whole new perspective on an event that we previously considered to be great for everyone. Even better, listening to someone who lives in the area helps to paint a picture of how that race event affects them, for better or worse. Once we know of their frustrations, we can advocate for them. Tourism encourages growth and helps acquire wealth, but it can hurt residents and, by extension, the environment.
People around Aspen, Colorado, know this all too well. As housing becomes less affordable in Aspen, workers are pushed further down the valley. Over 80 percent of Aspen’s workforce has a 30-minute commute to town, which, despite public transit, is a huge environmental issue. In many Colorado towns, housing and urban planning is one of the top three environmental arenas for action. Being aware of local issues, and patronizing businesses that support sustainable com- munity development, is a more meaningful and potent action than carrying our own straws and utensils.
Connecting with race directors on behalf of our communities through email, social media, or letter writing can help them consider overlooked aspects of their event. For those who have connections to sponsors—either local, corporate, or somewhere in between—we can build relationships on behalf of community groups for causes that directly support them.
A lot of the changes suggested in this chapter are for race organizers, race directors, and running brands, but they need to know what is a priority for their participants, customers, and community. Unless we let them know that sustain- ability, inclusion, and community are important, how can they know? While send- ing an email or reaching out directly may be the item on your to-do list that gets buried (we know that well!), taking the time to do so feels good—much better than checking off any other item on your to-do list. You are helping to be the change you wish to see. Even if nothing changes for a while, you have planted a seed—a seed that could change the lives of future runners for years to come.