The Triceratops is the second sprint triathlon in the RF Events T-Rex series. And as with the first one (the Stegosaurus), the weather was perfect and things went smoothly. The worst trouble I had was fighting the traffic on US-23 trying to get to the Island Lake State Rec Area. On a weekday afternoon (the races are always on Wednesday), you’d better get there early.
I set up the usual main Zero Waste station between the registration and volunteer tents. After race start I set up the satellite station in the post-race party area. All Waste boxes were put at the two transition area entrances/exits, which were swapped out when needed.
As with the Stegosaurus Tri in early June, the finisher medals were light and handmade, which meant less cardboard and no plastic strapping to deal with. And with Chex Mix and cookies instead of pasta and sandwiches, there was less food waste, and no greasy pans to wash. The athletes seemed fine with that, and certainly no complaints from the Zero Waste team.
One ongoing glitch is a continuing shortage of volunteers. As course marshals and other safety-related jobs must take precedence over sorting waste, I’ve had to scramble to get help. If you know someone who’d like to help out at the remaining two triathlons this year, please direct them to the T-Rex series website’s volunteer page. Anyone is of course welcome to sign up for my team, but any position will be welcomed.
Fortunately, I just hired two interns for the summer, and one of them worked her first Zero Waste event this evening. Welcome, Grace! You know, it’s not every day you find a rubber lobster in the box.
Between the two of us, we covered the stations and transition area without trouble. And we had another great result, with over 99 percent landfill diversion. That’s a good ongoing situation to have, for sure.
Happy Planet Running 
Good post on sustainability. Thank you 😊🌍
You’re welcome! Lots more like it on the website, including ones where things didn’t go as well. All part of the Zero Waste adventure!