The status quo for today’s participant sporting events is shockingly wasteful.

If you wonder just how wasteful, read this post on another blog I keep. It talks about a bike race I do that accounts for nearly 500,000 miles driven by race participants over the course of a weekend!

On the brighter side, there’s a movement afoot to reduce the impact of running events, triathlons, bike races and the like. Just as more and more people are becoming familiar with the threats of global warming, so, too, are everyday athletes becoming more concerned about the tremendous side effects of the events they participate in regularly.

Lee and I are pleased to be a part of the effort to create more environmentally responsible participant sporting events. For both of us, it’s a logical extension of our professional careers and our active lifestyles, not to mention the role we played as Cascade Run Off Race Committee members in 1981–the year the Run Off rejected the status quo and offered above-the-table prize money to its winners.

We were pleased to be agents of change in 1981 and we are excited to be agents of change once again.

Are you part of the problem of part of the solution? What do you do with the thousands of cups, water bottles and other trash generated by your event? What efforts do you or should you make leading up to race day?

On April 5th, in Arlington, Virginia, running event directors from across the country will gather to learn:

• Which U.S. road races are setting the Green Standard?
• What are best practices?
• Where do you go to find green vendors?
• And much, much more.

Please join me as I lead this all-day workshop presented by Road Race Management.