6 Practical Sustainability Tips for Smaller Races

Runners are asking, corporations are making it clear that the pressure is on, and then there is that growing weight on your heart about the future of our livable planet. Sustainability is becoming more and more important.

But you are a race director or community organizer of a small event, and sustainability initiatives often require money, time, and energy, three things that are already in short supply in the planning and execution of your event. Yet you know that implementing sustainable practices is something you have to do, not only for your participants, but for your own sense of peace.

While I work with some of the world's biggest marathons on their environmental initiatives, I am even more passionate about providing smaller events with opportunities to learn sustainability techniques that consider their size and operating budget.

A big race giving advice to a small race is like an elite athlete giving their training plan to a middle or back-of-the-pack runner; it just doesn’t work, and there are a lot more middle and back-of-the-pack runners out there than there are elites. We need to make sustainability work for the majority of races.

What we generally think of when it comes to sustainability are ways to minimize the impact of our event on the planet, but sustainability also includes our communities and their future. That means finding ways to make the experience more inclusive and welcoming, and creating opportunities for growth that will bring in new runners.

So let’s focus on five ways that running events with under 500 participants can focus on sustainability:

Encourage runners to carry their own fuel and hydration

For large races, runners carrying their own hydration can present security and logistical challenges. For smaller races, however, encouraging runners to bring their vests, handhelds, and belts means less strain on your team through putting out cups (and spending the money to purchase them), and also allows runners to run their best race by not having to stop to grab cups or fill up.

Depending on their personal preference, they can fill up their vests or handheld bottles with enough hydration to get them through the entire race, or they may prefer to carry a smaller bottle or cup that will need to be refilled by your volunteers. Having volunteers ready to refill bottles or cups from jugs or something similar will minimize the time that runners have to slow down and get in the way of others.

Once your race gets a reputation for being refill friendly, more and more runners will bring their own cups or bottles, reducing the number of cups that you need to invest in - and dispose of. Less money spent, less waste sent to recycling or a landfill.

Improve the event experience for runners with disabilities

As someone who has run as a guide for many friends with disabilities, varying from visual impairments to TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) to Down Syndrome, I have seen how a little can go a long way in making them feel welcomed and valued at an event. While this may not feel as though it falls under sustainability, it is an important sister topic that gives you an opportunity to stand out to your community. 

Ask around within your community if there are runners with disabilities who like to race; maybe they already attend your event. Set up a one-on-one meeting with them (they may need to bring a carer or loved one) to talk about what you could do better.

It could be something as simple as having a volunteer walk the course in reverse with a box of gels to see if the runners at the back of the pack need one. It could be changing your registration policies to allow a guide to sign up for free to support a blind runner. Some runners with disabilities may prefer to start 30 minutes early so they can finish with other runners. Ask your local runners how you can best support them.

Small changes can make a big difference for runners with disabilities, and will mean that they share with their community and the running community at large about their positive experience. 

Reduce or remove printed materials

Most of us now have phones that can scan QR codes. Switch to those instead of printing on paper just because it is what you are used to doing. We are all overrun with junk mail, printouts, and other materials that we do not want.

Emailing digital coupons to your participants instead of giving them paper copies means that not only do you reduce your environmental impact, but you can see which coupons they click on and which ones they actually use, and obtain better data as you consider partnerships for years to come. Ask your partners to provide a digital code for their offer that can be printed if needed or scanned with a phone.

Send volunteers instructions as PDFs through QR codes, and as they will have their phones with them, they can refer back to them anytime they need. 

There are lots of websites that provide free QR codes and you can print them out to display for multiple runners to use or make them clickable links in your “know before you go” email. Be sure to also let participants know that you will not have paper printouts this year. It is important to note that some QR codes only have a 10-day life, so time your usage wisely. 

Instead of using an entire tree (really, 20 reams of paper is one tree) and spending your budget on printing, make this switch.

Reuse signage from multiple-year sponsors

Try to avoid printing the date on signs so you can save money and generate less waste through reusing them, especially those from long-term sponsors that can be used year after year. Let the sponsors know that you will be storing and keeping the signs from the current year and that you will not need to have new ones printed.

If they are due for new signs because their condition has deteriorated or the company has changed their branding, ask them to look into printing on hemp or recycled materials, instead of on plastic that takes hundreds of years to break down.

Add an opt-out for t-shirts

Runners who participate in local events often do a lot within the community, and have collected more shirts than they could ever need. One easy step to reduce your environmental impact (and to save on money and storage) is to add an opt-out option for t-shirts.

Registration platforms make it easy to edit options for sizing, to which you could add:

• Money off registration: We suggest a discount that is similar to the cost of the shirt, i.e. $5 or so.
• Planting a tree instead: If you are looking for a way to bring the community together and do something positive for the area, search for “non-profit tree planting [your area]”. Once you have made an agreement with the nonprofit to donate to their organization, give runners/volunteers/staff the opportunity to take part in the tree planting themselves. 
• Donate to a charity partner: Ideally a local environmental nonprofit.

As with signage, if you do not include the year or the number of times you have hosted the event on t-shirts, you can use them for future races rather than wasting your money through uncollected or unused shirts. Whenever possible, try not to market your shirts as “men’s” or “women’s,” instead calling them “loose fit” or “slim fit,” to be inclusive to all genders participating in your races.

This is not intended to shame those who do want a shirt; some runners have been working for a long time to get that shirt as a visual representation of the work they have put in, but others may immediately throw theirs into a landfill or take it to an already overloaded donation center.

When you first offer one of these options, participants may not select it as they feel they are losing out, but if you offer it year after year, you will see your t-shirt opt-out rate grow.

Recover food and take it to a food recovery center

If you provide food to volunteers and staff or have post-race refreshments, be sure to have a volunteer (or yourself) drop off any remaining food at a food recovery center near you.

Reach out to the center ahead of time to ensure that they are able to take the items you provide (and how much they can handle). This means that what is left after your event is being passed on to people in your community who need support.

Final thoughts

While these tips may seem too simple to really have an impact, they do. But while they are a great starting point, once you begin on this journey, the goal is to keep adding a little more each year to minimize the impact of your event.

Tina Muir

Racing For Sustainability

Tina Muir is a former elite runner, founder of Racing for Sustainability and Running for Real and a leading advocate for sustainability in running. Through her podcast, book, and nonprofit, she empowers runners and race organizers to reduce their environmental impact while also championing athlete health and climate action.