The Bigfoot Snowshoe race in Traverse City went on despite several days of rain beforehand. The lodge’s property had plenty of snow left, albeit wet and slushy, but over 400 dedicated snowshoers ran the 5K, 10K, or one mile races. And as usual, your humble author of this report ran the 5K, and did surprisingly well!
Runners of all ages, and species, were represented. Even Bigfoot himself put in an appearance! (See slideshow below.)
The post-race food is chili, either vegetarian or carnivore, served with compostable bowls and spoons. Two surprises, one being a birthday cake for one of the runners, which was fine until I spotted the waxed plates and plastic forks being used. I removed those, as the bowls and spoons worked fine for the cake, too. And the company providing the chili didn’t want their foil pans back, so we rinsed them out for recycling.
We retrieved the lodge’s indoor trash bins and stored them behind the station, and covered two outside trash cans. Our outside All Waste box collected some material, but not too much.
Thanks to my wife Joyce, my friend Sue, and local volunteer Mallorie for helping me staff the station and keep everything sorted for pickup by Bay Area Recycling for Charities (BARC). And thanks as always to BARC, who saves me from having to drive to the recycling and compost centers after the race.
From left: Sue, Joyce, Mallorie, Jeff (me)
With just one pound of landfill and nearly 99 percent diversion rate, it was a great way to kick off our 2024 season!
Happy Planet Running 