It was a wonderful cool morning at Portage Lake for this year’s Tri Goddess triathlons, put on by Epic Races. There were a number of races to suit your style, from various triathlon distances to aquabike, duathlon, and even a relay. And, as evidenced by the featured photo, plenty of family and friends were there to cheer on the athletes.
A relay team charges together to the finish!
Like last year, I set up the main Zero Waste station across the path from the vendors and food tents. I was worried we were a bit out of the beaten path, but people found us just fine and litter (e.g. cups, abandoned Gatorade bottles) in the area was minimal. We also had a station in the adult beverage area and boxes at the finish line, by the bathrooms, and at each end of transition. The kitchen got a box for disposable gloves and an All Waste box.
In addition to myself (Jeff), the team was staffers Bridget and Cole, and regular volunteer Sue. They all know the ropes so everything went smoothly, with no “rogue trash cans” or other surprises.
For the athletes Epic had egg and cheese wraps, pancakes, bananas, cookies, and ice cream bars. Vodka spritzers were available in the adult beverage area.
Compostables were down from last year, while recycling was up, due mainly to more cardboard despite fewer waxed cups. Landfill remained exactly the same at 3.2 lbs. of ice cream wrappers, soiled foil, waxy paper, and tape.
One nice improvement was the use of reusable bungee cords instead of zip ties to secure the fencing, an idea the Epic crew thought up on their own. Love it! Another improvement was the aid station waste arriving before takedown, giving us time to sort it onsite.
Another great result. Not much else to say!
Happy Planet Running 