Run to Win

Last year, Atayne cleaned up after the Maine Marathon by organizing a trash run. This Summer, they did the same thing for the Beach to Beacon. I wasn’t able to participate in either one, as I was out of town at a wedding for the marathon last year, and had a broken foot this year. (My sister and my nephew had fun, though!)

This year, Atayne is stepping up and doing another trash run in conjunction with the Maine Marathon. Here’s an email I got from Jeremy:

Hello All,

Summer is almost over and that means it is time for the fall marathon season. But even more important it is time for the fall Trash Running season.

Last year the Atayne Trash Runners took the Maine Marathon by storm helping to divert about 75% of the event’s waste from going into a landfill.

We are once again working with the Maine Marathon and hope to make an even bigger impact this year.

I know many of you are experienced trash runners, but for all you rookies, it is a pretty simple concept. Run behind the participants and pick-up trash. It also includes some non-runners who separate recyclables from landfill waste at the start/finish and aid stations. Our goal is to recycle as much waste as possible and leave the race course cleaner than the event found it. As unglamorous as it may sound, it actually is a really good time.

I am reaching out to see if any of you would be interested in joining the Atayne Trash Running Team at the 2009 Maine Marathon. The event is Sunday, October 4. We are looking for a team of 30 to 35 people to run the course and help sort landfill and recyclable waste at the aid stations and the start/finish area. If we get enough people, we are even going to try to add composting this year.

As always, all volunteers will receive an Atayne top to wear while getting trashy and to sport proudly afterwards.

If you are available and interested in volunteering, please email me and include your preferred role: runner or sorter. If you are a runner please indicate how many miles you are willing to cover (minimum of 3 and maximum of 14). If you are interested in running but are unsure about the pace, we typically run a 12 to 15 minute mile while trash running. Feel free to spread the word and invite others you think might be interested.

Keep it clean,

Jeremy

You can contact Jeremy at Atayne’s website here:
http://atayne.com/connect/contact/

Just mention you are interested in taking part in the Maine Marathon Trash Run and he will get you the specific details.

Weren’t able to get into the Beach to Beacon before registration closed (which happened in a mere couple of minutes this year)? Well, there’s still an opportunity to run, thanks to my friends at Atayne.

Last year, Atayne adopted the Maine Marathon and sent a few runners along the course after everybody to help pick up the trash and separate anything that could be recycled. This year, they are going to do the same at the Beach to Beacon, and are offering bribes for anybody that wants to help out.

I received the following email from Jeremy Litchfield, which details what they are doing:
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About a year ago, I discussed the environmental impact of running and offered some suggestions about how you can lessen the damage that you personally cause by running. This year, I’d like to revisit the topic by focusing specifically on the impact caused by marathons.

The Problems

Photo by Don FulanoThe vast majority of marathons are not very environmentally conscious. Even race directors that are environmentally aware have an uphill battle getting their hordes of volunteers to cooperate with their initiatives. Trash and recyclables do not get separated at the source, making it an impossible task to separate the trash later and leading to it all being thrown into a dumpster or two (or more.) It can be extremely time consuming to separate the white cups from the gatorade cups from the cardboard from the plastic jugs from the general trash left behind at an aid station.

Aid stations aren’t the only problem. Most runners will think nothing of tossing their trash off of the side of the road as they are running, rather than carrying their empty gel packets or water bottles until they reach an aid station with a trash can.

“Each year I drive my truck the entire length of the course at 10mph and stop a million times to pickup those **ing packets and stray cups,” said Erik Boucher, the water stop coordinator for the Maine Marathon.
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2007 has been a really busy year here at Run to Win. The website has really grown. I wrote more this year than I did last year, and received about half again as many comments and trackbacks. More than twice as many people visited me this year than did in 2006, and there are about 4 times as many people subscribing to this website this year than there were towards the end of last year.

I am really happy with those numbers.

The popular content on the site this year was not quite as surprising as last year. First, I have been paying a lot more attention to what has been going on this year than I did in years past, so I had a good idea about what was popular. Second, I predicted last year what would be the most popular content this year, because the articles had not had enough time to gain traction and take the top spots last year.

My Marathon Preparation Series article list was viewed more times than any other page besides my home page last year. I knew that it would be. More people actually visited the article about what to do the week before the marathon than the series page, but the series page was viewed multiple times as people jumped around within the series.

A few of the other articles from the marathon preparation series made the top 10 in both people reading the article and unique visitors over the past year. Almost all of the articles made the top 25. The popularity of this series is a big reason why I am writing a more in-depth book about the subject which will be available in less than a month.

The one big surprise on the list this year was a random article that I wrote about Tom Brady’s NFL Contract, which had a lot of people come to visit it. It was the only popular article that was more sports than running related, and I did not promote it at all.

The articles that dealt with running shoe frequently asked questions and tempo running were also quite popular and made it into the top 10. The environmental impact of running and describing the difference between running on a track and running on a treadmill were close to making that top 10 but just missed it.

Some of last year’s favorite articles are still really popular, though. My video about how to tie your shoes so that they don’t come untied has been bringing in a steady stream of traffic. The New Rules of Lifting is also just as popular, being the 11^th most viewed page on the site (including the home page!) I highly recommend the book if you are considering cross training.

A second surprise, although not as large of one since I did promote the page a little, was an article that I published this month. Just over two weeks ago, I began offering a free special report, The 3 Components of an Effective Workout. I started publishing a running tips newsletter, and you can download the report when you sign up. It is pretty amazing to me that it was the 15^th most popular page when it has had so little time or exposure. This must mean that if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, you better hurry up and do so! (I’ll be releasing some new goodies in the near future to people that are on the list.)

Since 2007 has shown nothing but improvements to both the website and my satisfaction with it, I see no reason that this trend won’t continue into the new year. I believe that 2008 will see even more and faster growth, especially since I formed a company a few months ago and will be opening the doors to my new business, Run to Win LLC, in January. I hope that you stick around for another exciting year!

In a continuing collaboration with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing about things that deserve more attention throughout the month of October. This week, I am also going to take part in Blog Action Day and discuss the environmental impact of running.

Running is a good activity in which to engage. We learned how to do that well before we learned how to wreck our environment to any great degree. As with anything else, though, there is an impact that we have and it never hurts to be aware of just what that impact is.

Photo by Don FulanoThe biggest environmental impact that runners have, and a totally unnecessary impact that we can all avoid making, is leaving our trash behind while we run. There are some runners that will think nothing of dropping an empty gel packet or water bottle by the side of the road, especially during races. During a race, there may be people that will pick up the trash as long as you drop your items near an aid station, and in a city the trash left behind by runners may be minuscule compared to the litter left behind by everybody else. When we run out in the country or on trails, though, the trash that we leave behind does not have any designated people who volunteer or are paid to pick up after us. Unless you can find a trash can on your run, use a carry in/carry out policy with any waste that you create.
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