KT: Race packets & t-shirts

I love running and get a big kick out of running races. There are so many unique races in Michigan-- this winter I ran "The Winter Wolf" in Omer, the smallest town in Michigan, in six-degree weather, at night, with a headlamp, through the woods. "Wolves" jumped out at runners at various points along the way, and finishers enjoyed homemade chili (prepared by the race director's mom) and received hand-painted awards made from logs. I often make a vacation of races held out of town. Next month, I am signed up for a race in Ottawa; while we trot along the Rideau River we'll get an eyefull of the 100,000 tulips that are part of the May Ottawa tulip festival. Trail races, road races, summer races, winter races, I enjoy them all.

But after a while, the race tee-shirts add up. And not all of them are stylish. Do I really need another race t-shirt? Nope. But they keep giving them to me, along with "goodie bags" which contain samples of products and product information from race sponsors. My last goodie bag contained a sample of some energy bars, a sample of some special laundry soap "specially formulated" to wash running clothes (give me a break), a couple of other product samples and a bunch of flyers and ads about upcoming races, and running products. I ate one of the sample-sized energy bars and the rest of the stuff went into the trash.

One of my goals for the compact was to ask some local race directors if they woud be wiling to make "goodie bags" and tee-shirts optional for registering participants. While these items should be offered to those who want them, making them optional would reduce environmental impact and it would save the race money, along the time and labor of distributing these items that many people end up throwing away.

I asked my running coach who also directs local races here in Ann Arbor about adding a check-off box on the registration form, and she was very receptive to the idea. In fact she's going to incorporate "stuff optional" into her next race. She loves the idea because it's a win-win situation from an environmental and economic perspective. She hadn't heard of any races already putting such a policy in place, however, my guess is that some races must be going "stuff optional" at this point. Hopefully others will follow!