FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Williams Route 66 Marathon Achieves ReSport Certification from the
Council for Responsible Sport
Tulsa event follows path of promoting healthy lifestyles and community
involvement to earn what is typically thought of as being an eco-friendly
certification.
February 16, 2012 - Portland, OR: Council for Responsible Sport (CRS)
Executive Director Keith Peters announced today that the Williams Route 66
Marathon, held November 20, 2011, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has qualified for
ReSport Certification from the Council. In doing so, event organizers
earned 25 certification credits in categories from waste management to
community impact and health promotion.
"Most events approach ReSport Certification from the environmental side of
the ledger," said Keith Peters. "The folks in Tulsa did a remarkable job
with their green initiatives, staging a zero-waste event, but really broke
new ground with some of their socially oriented initiatives."
Peters added: "Two programs in particular focused on at-risk youth in their
community. Youth Services of Tulsa, an agency that serves homeless youth,
stuffed race packets, which were actually reusable cloth bags, and earned
$3,000 for their efforts. And, presenting sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield
sponsored 300 participants in the YMCA's Kids Training Program, even paying
the 5K entry fee for those kids who completed the training program."
On the environmental side, of course, achieving zero-waste is a newsworthy
accomplishment in itself. Other initiatives of note included use of the
Hydra Pour self-serve spigot for dispensing beverages quickly and easily at
all Gatorade Stations; making arrangements for cups collected on course and
at the finish to be turned into fuel pellets; use of compostable food
service products at the Pasta Dinner; and, finally, calling attention to
all these efforts by actually referencing them in the name of the Health,
Fitness and Sustainability Expo.
The Council for Responsible Sport provides an independent, comprehensive
certification for event directors to incorporate environmental and socially
responsible initiatives into their events while informing consumers about
events that adhere to higher standards of sustainability. CRS Certified
events range in size from the ParalympicsGB Training Camp at the University
of Bath in the UK, with some 150 athletes participating, to the AJC
Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia, with 55,077 timed finishers. To
date, 36 different events have achieved certification from the Council for
Responsible Sport, serving over 570,000 athletes in the process.
The current version of the Council for Responsible Sport's certification
standards were developed by an outside working group of 18 sustainability
experts and reviewed by a wide range of stakeholders. ReSport Certification
is modeled after the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Green Building
Rating System, which certifies buildings and materials according to
resource conservation and energy efficiency criteria.
About the Council for Responsible Sport:
Founded in 2007 to empower sporting event producers to incorporate
sustainably into their events, the Council for Responsible Sport is about
inspired innovation and unprecedented collaboration. The mission of CRS is
to partner with stakeholders in the sports industry as catalysts for
sustainable change. From half marathons to football games to lacrosse and
snowboarding, the Council believes athletes and spectators alike have the
opportunity to encourage sports to adopt sustainable practices.
In addition to administering a certification program for sports events, CRS
also offers peer-to-peer learning communities and access to online tools,
case studies and strategic partnerships to assist leaders and businesses
actively engaged in the sports industry.
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