FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18th Annual Philadelphia Marathon is Taking Steps to Sustainability
Race Organizers Announce Campaign to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
PHILADELPHIA (October 11, 2011) - The 2011 Philadelphia Marathon is proud
to announce that, more than ever, it is doing its part to reduce the carbon
footprint during Race Weekend, November 18-20, 2011. Host to 25,000
runners, more than 60,000 fans and 3,000 volunteers, the Philadelphia
Marathon Race Weekend organizers are committed to transforming the races
into environmentally-conscious sporting events that strive to preserve the
earth's natural resources.
"The road to sustainability is paved with a few single steps," said
Executive Race Director Melanie Johnson. "Each year, we are implementing
green initiatives that both reuse resources and recycle materials which
make our race weekend more efficient and eco-friendly."
Below are green initiatives that the event organizers are doing to both
subtly and aggressively reduce waste, reuse resources and recycle
materials:
Heatsheets®, which are made of a metalized polyester film and
distributed to warm up the runners at the finish line, will be collected in
designated containers and recycled.
Materials from excess runners' medals will be melted down and
recycled in a waste-cutting measure.
The more than 300,000 cups that runners use during the races to
drink water and replacement fluids will be collected and composted.
Recycling and composting bins will be set up at the marathon's
two-day Health and Fitness Expo and on the race course at fluid stations
and other designated areas.
Recycled cardboard and plastics will be used on the race course.
Thousands of runners discard their outer layers of warm-up clothing
at the starting line, so the Philadelphia Marathon Race Weekend organizers
partner with the Bethesda Project, a local organization that assists the
homeless population, to collect more than two hundred 55-gallon bags of
salvageable clothing each year.
Excess runners' bags will be recycled, reused or donated and the
items within the bags are recycled or donated to local running clubs,
school groups and charity organizations.
The paper size of informational handouts has been reduced by 50
percent.
On the path to a paperless race, registration for the Marathon,
Half Marathon, and Rothman Institute 8K is accessible through the
Philadelphia Marathon's website. Marathon organizers continued to strongly
encourage participants to sign up online, at times offering online
discounts and distributing specials via e-cards rather than through paper
mailings. This increased the percentage of online registration from 88
percent in 2008 to 97 percent in 2010.
For more information about how the Philadelphia Marathon is going green,
visit our website at www.philadelphiamarathon.com.
The City of Philadelphia, Running's Best Host City, will welcome 27,000
registrants across all races and more than 60,000 spectators at the 2011
Philadelphia Marathon Race Weekend. In addition to the Philadelphia
Marathon on Sunday, November 20, Race Weekend features three other races –
the Half Marathon also on Sunday, as well as the Rothman Institute 8K and
the Kids Fun Run on Saturday, November 19. Other activities to welcome
runners and other participants, families, friends, spectators, businesses
and residents include a free two-day Health & Fitness Expo; a free course
map, Fan Pass complete with retail discounts and promotions, and more than
20 spectator cheer zones. Runners pass many of Philadelphia's famous
attractions on the swift and scenic USATF-certified course, which is a
Boston qualifier. Take the first step to experiencing 26.2 miles of fun,
beauty, history and excitement by visiting www.philadelphiamarathon.com.
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