Last Sunday morning over 600 athletes showed up for the annual Epic Races Swim to the Moon at Halfmoon Lake Beach. Although as the announcer pointed out, the Moon is about 238,000 miles away and the longest distance offered was 15K (9.3 miles) so I’m pretty sure nobody actually got there. (But it’s a start.) No matter, the Green Team was there to ensure the park remained pristine and all the waste was properly managed.
Yes, there was an attempted tackle just after I took this. (They’d already finished.)
We set up our staffed station across from the food area and near the finish line, to make it easy for people to find us. We put a table with All Waste boxes at registration, in the drop bag area, at the beach water stop (for those doing multiple laps) and on the path to the parking lot. That path was lit by tiki torches before sunrise, which looked cool and cut down on the disposable mini-lights used in previous years. The kitchen got its usual boxes for regular waste and disposable gloves.
Post-race food was the usual Epic spread of egg and cheese wraps, peanut butter wraps, bananas, and cookies, all served with compostable plates and utensils. Cups were used for finish line water, but Gatorade came in bottles, so we had a fair number of those. Other waste streams included cardboard, plastic bags, and a large amount of foil used for the wraps. Some was too contaminated to recycle, but we processed most of it.
And as usual, a significant number of “needs bags” were not reclaimed. They contained mostly disposable items, but we were able to find and retrieve two bags after the event that contained important things like eyeglasses. We also restocked our Free Stuff box with lots of unopened Gu packets and snack bars. The swim caps and goggles left behind will be donated to a local organization.
Some of the stuff recovered from unclaimed bags.
Total waste of 249 lbs. was down from last year’s 282, but in line with averages. But landfill at just under 6 lbs. was about half the average. A bunch of that was due to the team, who rinsed a bunch of foil, which in my book goes above and beyond. Many thanks to Bridget, Debbie, and Linda, who was working her first event. Welcome, and great job!
From left: Me, Bridget, Debbie, Linda
P.S. This event benefits North Star Reach, a summer camp for kids with special medical needs, allowing them to have a full camp experience. Check them out and please consider donating.
Happy Planet Running 