The 2023 RF Events Oberun 5K proved once again that if you offer beer with something, people are guaranteed to show up. Even with the threat of predicted thunderstorms, over 1,200 showed up, and when the rain missed us and we had a sunny evening, they stuck around to enjoy games, food, live music, and beer. And HPR was there to keep it green, with another 98+% landfill diversion rate, and less than 10 lbs. of actual trash.
Part of the post-race crowd, with a very busy Zero Waste Station in the background.
As usual, we set up the main Zero Waste station in the center of the party area, and another station at each of the two entrances/exits. We also added a single-table station between the beer and water tables, and staffed it intermittently. This station would prove problematic later, but we were saved in the nick of time.
We had a huge pile of cardboard to handle, mainly from the boxes of pint glasses (every runner got a glass). We decided to create a “wall o’ cardboard’ of stacked boxes along the inner side of the party area fencing, where it could be easily loaded into our trailer at takedown. This avoided an eyesore at the finish line and a messy heap at the central station.
Debbie and Emily survived the rush!
Things got really rocking around 7:30, but we were saved by the timely arrival of three volunteers. With their help we stayed on top of the rush of waste, and rescued the aforesaid single-table station from an overflow disaster.
Yikes!
Rescued! Thanks, Annie!
Thanks to the Little Caesars, Simply Spanish, and PB&J BBQ food trucks for going compostable, so messy sorting or rinsing was needed. And thanks to the finish line and beer table crews, who organized their plastic bags, cardboard, and boxboard so it was easy for our crew to take away. We also collected about 2,000 beer cans for recycling.
Once again we had to make two trips to haul everything away, first for the cardboard and some recycling, and a second for the remaining waste and all the equipment. The final loading was at 10:30 p.m. Big shout-outs to Charlie who helped me unload the cardboard at our first trip, and to Rachael and Debbie for staying at the site to help load everything else when we returned. Rachael also helped me weigh everything the next day and load the recycling for disposal.
This event also marked the debut of the new HPR permanent trailer! A good thing because a 6×12 U-Haul would have needed three trips to take care of everything. A larger interior space in our new trailer meant only two. And we had interior lights for loading in the dark.
Improvement ideas for next year:
- Park the HPR trailer by the finish line and put the cardboard directly into it, saving time and effort. An RF truck was there already, so adding the trailer doesn’t really mess up the aesthetics.
- Put two people at the party entrance/exit near the finish line, as it received very heavy traffic. The far exit could possibly go unstaffed for a while, or be monitored by the volunteers making sure no beer cans left the party area.
Happy Planet Running 