August 9, 2023
By Green Team Captain Alexandria Galens
The 2023 Pterodactyl Tri turned a mundane Wednesday night into an exciting one. This sprint triathlon took place on a warm evening with the RF Events team’s adorable puppy watching over the Green Team. (Ed. note: the dude in the photo above is NOT the puppy. Proper adorable photo next time, we promise.)
This was a “do over” for the Pterodactyl this year, with the originally scheduled date of July 26 scratched due to oncoming bad weather (and bad it was, with power knocked out all over Michigan!). So while numbers were lower than usual, the much better weather made for an enjoyable evening for all.
The Green Team – Alex and Emma – set up the main sorting station near the registration, with boxes at the entrance and exit of the transition area. The team later opened a second sorting station at the finish line to dispose of post-race snack waste.
The post-race food consisted of individual wrapped Jimmy John’s sub sandwiches, and individual bags of potato chips, which, thanks to TerraCycle we were able to recycle. The bulk of the rest of the waste was cardboard, cups, and water bottles.
The landfill waste was no different than usual: tape, soiled waxed paper, and stickers. The team did sort through the park’s waste bins at the beginning of the race before covering them, so the total amount of waste includes some non-race extras. The only hiccup was in our takedown scramble, where we accidentally didn’t record the aid station cup weight, so we estimated. But with seven years(!) of historical data to draw on, we’re pretty confident it’s in the ballpark.
All in all, the total waste produced was far less than 100 lbs, with the landfill waste being a small fraction of that. Pterodactyl Tri was another example of how you can run a great race without leaving a trace!
Happy Planet Running 