October’s Ann Arbor Marathon was held on the first rainy day we’ve had in weeks. So, naturally, it showed up again at this month’s first turkey trot, at Hudson Mills Metropark.
Fortunately, one of my volunteers showed up early, so he was able to help me set up. We found the one remaining spot on the patio which wasn’t in a puddle, and got the canopy and tables up. Then, having had her little joke, Mother Nature stopped the rain, and the 5K and 10K went on in cloudy and somewhat chilly weather, but perfectly acceptable for the race.
And with a good-sized team staffing the station, I (Jeff) was able to run the 10K.
Winner, winner, turkey dinner!
Due to conditions, we used just one Zero Waste station, with an All Waste box next to the Water Monster. The kitchen staff brought us cardboard and other waste, including nearly a full pail of disposable gloves. They went through a lot for some reason. We relocated the park trash cans in the area until the race was over.
Thanks to U-M volunteers Alex (not shown), Olivia, Alexa, and my sister Jenn (holding the Single Bag ‘o Trash), making her debut as a Zero Waste specialist.
Food was pumpkin spice pancakes, mac & cheese, bananas, and cookies, served as usual on compostable plates and cups with compostable sporks. The water stop waste was just about all cups and required little sorting.
Like at the marathon, the cups were a mix of waxed paper (Absopure sponsorship) and plain paper Gatorade cups. This meant I had to capture the cups as a separate waste stream, but at the recycling center that accepts waxed cups, both types are accepted.
One improvement idea – the trash cans inside the park building, where packet pickup was, contained quite a bit of race waste. We removed most of it, but it’s probably better to cover them and put All Waste boxes on top.
Landfill was reasonable at just over eight lbs. out of 113 lbs. total. The largest contributors were the mac & cheese pouches and foil contaminated with food waste.
This wraps up the Epic Races season for me. It was great to have everything turn out well after a yucky start!
Happy Planet Running 
What an awesome job!!!!