I haven’t seen any threads on the matter, so I’ll start a discussion just to see where the mindset of fellow athletes is at.
Whenever I take part in an Ironman event, I am amazed by the amount of (what I feel is) unnecessary single use plastic objects/goodies. In my opinion, examples include Finisher / participants’ goodies: backpack at registration full of leaflets, finisher t-shirt, medal, finisher towel…Could we limit the finisher goodies to one of these? Blue/red/white transition plastic bags: why do you need transition bags? Can’t you just lay your equipment on the floor/ a towel next to your bike. That’s the case in many local races Special needs plastic bags for IM: can the athletes not bring their own special needs bags that they recover afterwards? Plastic cups on the run: could each athlete run with a reusable cup? It’s mandatory at Embrunman and in many ultra trail running races. Just use sthg like this (https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/trail-running-folding-cup-x-light/_/R-p-307954). Foldable, super light and easy to put in a pocket or carry folded in your hand Plastic bottles on the bike: At embrunman, they were not giving away bike bottles. A bit more of a hassle as you have to stop to refill
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Ironman communicates on sustainability. Ironman races are already not the most eco friendly events in the world: most of us fly to the race venue, rent a car and drive around, etc. I understand these plastic bags and cups are answers to some needs (safety, branding, etc.) but can’t we try to do things differently? As a community of athletes, isn’t’ it is our duty to act on the matter?
I have tried to do my part by not taking the medal after the finish or the backpack at registration. I have also given feedback on the survey after pretty much each race I have done. Hope some of you share my opinion
I agree that the use of plastics seems excessive, but I’m not sure how you overcome this. Society in general seems to be moving to more plastics than less. Just look at the K cup section in the grocery store.
Transition swim to bike usually done in tent. So laying down next to bike doesn’t work. Also if I remember correctly not enough capacity in tent for everyone to have their own spot. And I think they have had all sorts of problems with stuff going astray if laid out so they are probably trying to avoid that. Also helps with collecting stuff later. The transition bags are not much of an issue. One does an ironman quite infrequently.
I could do without all the swag and the backpack etc for sure. If it is your one and done ironman maybe you want that but if you have already done a few who needs more crap? I’d be cool with just a T-shirt.
I did embrunman but arrived late (plane issues) So I didn’t get an athlete briefing and didn’t know what the cup was for. Awkward. But I think it is a good idea.
Junk factor v Participation recognition
–I don’t like the junk that piles up around the house
–But I acknowledge that participation trinkets are important to a lot of people
–In fact, at most races I think age groups awards amount to not much more than participation trinkets
–The very few participation items that have proven useful over the years have included a couple of towels, a few branded velco straps, one well made pack
–The majority of participation items have been worthless including poorly made satchels, an over abundance of coffee mugs and pint glasses,
Coddled v Self-service
–Most gravel races, you gotta fill your own bottle, or carry everything from the start
–Most ultra races, you gotta manage your own refills, etc
–What makes an IM distance triathlon unique? Nothing
–In fact, self-service might make the whole thing a bit more interesting
–In a hot Olympic distance race? Maybe grab-n-go cups are the best solution
Branding
–Maybe the races are literally being paid to put branded stuff into your hands
–If so, that’s simply a consequence of the business plan
Sustainable v Not sustainable
–The huge amount of crapola needs to go away somehow
–Habits are hard to kick, the system needs a jolt
I appreciate this thread and my 30 or 20 year old self would applaud this and wish for the same! Sadly, I’m now so cynical and jaded in my 50s. I do agree with your post. But I believe it’s all too late. I’m no expert or scientist but have zero hope for human beings on this planet ever living in a sustainable manner. Population will reach 10 billion by 2050. Corporations/the wealthy have too much political influence to allow positive change to happen (we can’t even get a bill passed in the US senate and congress to address climate change). Heck parts of the world are still too busy fighting amongst themselves to bother with the environmental crisis. That all being said I suppose we should still try and make an effort. I know this is a LR type reply. But it’s just my own personal opinion. But yes Ironman has room to be more environmentally friendly like many other organizations.
I try to make an effort to live my life in a way that is more low-impact and more environmentally friendly (no meat, off-grid life, support local food, hardly drive a car)… but honestly I am just as bad as anyone else with all my amazon purchases, endless need for triathlon gear, flights to fancy races when I do leave my home. I have an Endless pool and want a hot tub too. I’m a living hypocrite. Feel like a parasite on the planet. I drink wine in the off-season to self medicate and not think about all this.
I wish I could feel more hopeful. Oddly enough NPR this morning was discussing how many young people today are feeling much despair for our future. Dan, feel free to move this to the LR
Good topic. There are definitely a number of changes easy to implement.
Participants’ goodies: replace all the leaflets by one email sent post athlete check-in with the same discount codes, and with the $25 food voucher. Easy and should be done asap.
Re-usable plastic cup on the run: I remember complaining a lot ahead of the first race I had to use that system. Then realized how simple it was, and I was complaining for no reasons, I’m now a big advocate. Except for pros who can’t spare the extra 4 seconds at aid stations, it is a great thing.
Transition bags: we do need them (had the race not been cancelled in Sacramento, I’d have been more than happy my gear wasn’t on the ground!); but can’t we re-use them, and ask for no bags during check-in? I always bring them home post-race, and re-use them until they break (and they rarely do). I have enough of them for my next 3 IM at least.
Special need bags: let’s stop giving them to everyone by default. There’s probably 50% or less that end up being used on race day.
Replace cars/motos from officials/TV-coverage with drones as often as possible. Would help with the drafting controversies.
Medals/t-shirts: tough one. I could live without the extra finisher t-shirt that ends up joining a big pile of hardly-ever-worn other race t-shirts. The medal, maybe not. But we could make them smaller, and maybe made of more environment friendly material. 2018 NYC Olympic tri medal was ridiculous; so big and heavy, it was less a medal than a weapon likely to be banned on planes!
Good topic. There are definitely a number of changes easy to implement.
Participants’ goodies: replace all the leaflets by one email sent post athlete check-in with the same discount codes, and with the $25 food voucher. Easy and should be done asap.
Re-usable plastic cup on the run: I remember complaining a lot ahead of the first race I had to use that system. Then realized how simple it was, and I was complaining for no reasons, I’m now a big advocate. Except for pros who can’t spare the extra 4 seconds at aid stations, it is a great thing.
Transition bags: we do need them (had the race not been cancelled in Sacramento, I’d have been more than happy my gear wasn’t on the ground!); but can’t we re-use them, and ask for no bags during check-in? I always bring them home post-race, and re-use them until they break (and they rarely do). I have enough of them for my next 3 IM at least.
Special need bags: let’s stop giving them to everyone by default. There’s probably 50% or less that end up being used on race day.
Replace cars/motos from officials/TV-coverage with drones as often as possible. Would help with the drafting controversies.
Medals/t-shirts: tough one. I could live without the extra finisher t-shirt that ends up joining a big pile of hardly-ever-worn other race t-shirts. The medal, maybe not. But we could make them smaller, and maybe made of more environment friendly material. 2018 NYC Olympic tri medal was ridiculous; so big and heavy, it was less a medal than a weapon likely to be banned on planes!
I agree with all of these suggestions.
Regarding the swim change in T1, If you allow for a bit more space between bike racks, no the transition bags would not be as necessary (bad weather is the exception here) and one could let people decide if they want bags or not. Escape from Alcatraz does this without any real issue. I see the point regarding change tents but that is really a choice so having a tent available is good but the vast majority of athletes don’t need the change tent.
— athletes discipline themselves to only take bottles at aid stations if they are going to use the full thing (don’t just take two sips and discard)
— only take special needs bags if intended to be used
— ask / pay volunteers to separate trash from recyclable materials. Easy to do where bottles and cans are returnable
I always take home the transition bags and use them with dogs’ my pooper-scooper. Perfect size for that device, and keeps the backyard looking nice.
Good topic. There are definitely a number of changes easy to implement.
Participants’ goodies: replace all the leaflets by one email sent post athlete check-in with the same discount codes, and with the $25 food voucher. Easy and should be done asap.
Re-usable plastic cup on the run: I remember complaining a lot ahead of the first race I had to use that system. Then realized how simple it was, and I was complaining for no reasons, I’m now a big advocate. Except for pros who can’t spare the extra 4 seconds at aid stations, it is a great thing.
Transition bags: we do need them (had the race not been cancelled in Sacramento, I’d have been more than happy my gear wasn’t on the ground!); but can’t we re-use them, and ask for no bags during check-in? I always bring them home post-race, and re-use them until they break (and they rarely do). I have enough of them for my next 3 IM at least.
Special need bags: let’s stop giving them to everyone by default. There’s probably 50% or less that end up being used on race day.
Replace cars/motos from officials/TV-coverage with drones as often as possible. Would help with the drafting controversies.
Medals/t-shirts: tough one. I could live without the extra finisher t-shirt that ends up joining a big pile of hardly-ever-worn other race t-shirts. The medal, maybe not. But we could make them smaller, and maybe made of more environment friendly material. 2018 NYC Olympic tri medal was ridiculous; so big and heavy, it was less a medal than a weapon likely to be banned on planes!
For your last point - make them optional. For certain races I want the medal. For others, I could care less. Some people really like medals. Same with race shirts. And all the other swag. There are lots of races I didn’t take the shirt when offered at check in because I’d never wear it.
The optional special needs is a good idea too. I didn’t plan to use either in my race.
Great topic and I totally agree with you. I don’t think this is limited to Ironman events as a lot of races whether they’re smaller tris or running events are also guilty of this. It drives me mental seeing the amount of plastic cups littered on the ground when there are alternatives for this. My suggestions would be:
Any transition / special needs bag to be replaced with reusable cloth (can be a momento from the race) or recycled paper bags
Trail runners use running vests instead of cups however I don’t think this or carrying a reusable cup is always practical esp if someone doesn’t want to wait to get their cup refilled … only thing I can think of is looking at using something like seaweed water pods - https://edition.cnn.com/...r-bottles/index.html
Bike bottles - how about making bottles out of a lightweight recyclable (aluminium maybe?) material instead of plastic? I think these already exist but not as popular as the plastic option …
I love all my race goodies like tshirts, medals etc but perhaps allow ppl to opt out of these when they register if they don’t want it (and no pls I don’t want to pay extra for my race momentos either :)) Metals can be made of a recycled material - https://www.reuters.com/...kyo-2020-2021-08-03/
I think all of us can do our part whether small or big. For me, I’ve made a complete switch to carrying a reusable water bottle so that I don’t litter the ground with plastic cups anymore.
Of course it’s not impossible for our community to do more in reducing waste and the amount of plastic being produced and thrown out. Unfortunately I do think the next generation is screwed from the excess of our generation but we can do a lot more to help them along whilst they’re cleaning up our mess ….
“I have tried to do my part by not taking the medal after the finish or the backpack at registration.â€
Do you feel like you’re making a difference by not taking something that’s already been manufactured and already there?
I’d let Kampinou confirm, but it is probably about sending a message to the organization, when they’ll realize how many medals they are left with: next time, get less of them.
And very fair point from another reply on asking athletes ahead of time if they actually want a medal or a finisher t-shirt.
When you sign up for a race with Multisport Canada here in Ontario, they give you the option of accepting your race t-shirt, a pair of socks or 5$ off your registration.
With Covid it’s been 2 years since I registered with them but I think those were the options.
5$ is 5$ and they don’t waste the time and money on a t-shirt that will just replace an older race t-shirt in your bin of racing t-shirts.
Don’t you try and take my medals off me - no, just no!! Anything else I can do without, but I want my medals! Maybe they could offer an option, so that if people don’t want medals and t-shirts, they can opt out at registration?
Finisher/Participation swag - make it optional when registering for the race as an add on to your registration fee. It’s rare I want the tee shirt from a race and even more rare I want something like a sling bag, socks, etc. Items like flyers, sample nutrition items, etc can be set on a table near the registration/packet pick-up and people can take what they want.
Transition/SN bags - participants can provide their own, the race company can provide labels for the bags and a company like IM could even sell reusable transition bags on their website and at the expo. In every ultra marathon I’ve done, this is how it works and have yet to see any issues with not using uniform bags provided by the race outfit.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen Ironman communicates on sustainability. As a community of athletes, isn’t’ it is our duty to act on the matter?
First it’s not an issue. Second the answer is “no”.
If you combined all the IM events trash, and we do not know how much is recycled if any (which would be dictated by local laws and ordinances), its not even .0000000001% of the world problem. You, as an individual, are better off riding your bike more and your car less for sustainability.
Transition/SN bags - participants can provide their own, the race company can provide labels for the bags and a company like IM could even sell reusable transition bags on their website and at the expo. In every ultra marathon I’ve done, this is how it works and have yet to see any issues with not using uniform bags provided by the race outfit.
I’ve been doing a lot more trail races of late and you just simply don’t see the same vast amount of rubbish / single use plastic in these races. Ironman and other event organisers can learn a lot from how these events are run. Sometimes it’s about getting ppl out of their bad habits - like our habit of relying on supermarkets to give us single use plastic bags until these were banned (in some jurisdictions).
All of us individuals can do our part however I do think that the biggest difference can be made at the top by how events are organised. But they won’t change until we complain or move our money elsewhere.
Re flights - yup that’s a huge problem but I try and make sure to offset all my flights now. Organisers can try and encourage their participants to do the same.
I’ve said similar in other posts. Especially with the impact of Covid, a perfect chance to reset.
Some ultra runs can and have for years made you take your own cup for feed stations. No reason not to on an IM also. It’s the same for everyone.
Be self sufficient on food - easy enough to do. No excuses really. Other can’t be arsed.
Provide water bowsers to fill your own bottles if you want.
I’ve made good use of the 2 or 3 backpacks I’ve had from long races. And towels.
But, I’d not need another 5 !
Maybe make them an option at cost price. And reduce the entry cost accordingly. Those who want them can have them at cost.
Same with T shirts. I have enough T shirts to last 3 lifetimes. I need no more.
A couple of swim events I’ve done and some local runs HAVE done that - T shirt as an extra cost on entry, but not stupid price.
Then the other elephant in the room… how much air travel to get to races?
Race local and independent !!
