Runner’s World Half & Festival Earns Gold Level Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport

EMMAUS, Penn., NEW YORK, NY – September 9, 2016 –Runner’s World Magazine’s annual Half & Festival powered by ALTRA earned a Gold Level certification from the Council for Responsible Sport. This is the third consecutive certification for the event, which was recognized with high marks for being socially and environmentally responsible.

“As we gear up for the Runner’s World Half & Festival in Bethlehem, PA this October 14-16, we are committed to hosting an environmentally-friendly event that reflects our healthy lifestyle,” says Warren Greene, Runner’s World brand editor. “We are thrilled to be a Gold-Certified event again this year, and proud to be making a difference in the community through efforts such as offering paperless entries to donating post-race food.”

“Gold level certification from the Council is a hard-earned accomplishment achieved by forward-thinking leaders in the industry who take action on their social and environmental values,” says Shelley Villalobos, managing director at the Council for Responsible Sport. “The Runner’s World Half & Festival remains a steady leader in the field, and the way the event is hosted reflects the organizers’ continued commitment to responsibility and improvement.”

The Runner’s World Half & Festival earned credits across the five categories of the certification standards, including planning and communications, procurement, resource management, access and equity and community legacy.

Highlights of Runner’s World’s green initiatives include:

Environmental

• ArtsQuest is close to the public transit allowing many runners and participants to leave their cars at home. Shuttle buses were offered, carpooling encouraged, and a free bike and gear check was provided.
• Source separation of compost, recycling and hard-to-recycle items such as heatsheets and energy shot packaging resulted in keeping 63 percent of all waste generated out of the landfill through recycling efforts.
• Heatsheets were collected and recycled through the ‘Blankets to Boards’ program in conjunction with Trex, a manufacturer of composite decking materials.
• 450 pounds of post-race food was donated to Second Harvest Food Bank for local distribution.
• Pre-event pasta dinner featured locally grown produce, reducing the ‘food miles’ and thus energy from fuel needed to transport goods.

Social

• Fundraising for the official race charity partner, St. Lukes, supports programs including the HealthStar Mobile Youth Clinic Program providing medical, dental, and vision services to underserved youth communities and Community Health Centers providing health care programs within area elementary schools.
• Clothes-pin booth at ArtsQuest expo collected over 700 articles of clothing and 200 pairs of shoes from participants who donated them for reissue to people in need.

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About the 2016 Runner’s World Half & Festival presented by ALTRA

The fifth Runner’s World Half & Festival presented by ALTRA will take place Oct. 14-16, 2016. A weekend-long celebration of running at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA, the Festival features road and trail races, as well as running-related seminars and speakers, live music and a health and fitness expo. The 2016 event begins Oct. 14 with the Training Running 101 Seminar presented by ALTRA followed by a 3.8-mile ALTRA Trail Race. There will also be kids’ races for ages 2-12 years old. Saturday begins with the 5-K, the 10-K and the Dog Run. There will also be an abundance of seminars and a happy hour and two pasta dinners with the editors of Runners World. The Festival concludes Sunday with the half marathon. Runners can compete in the three road races (5-K, 10-K and half-marathon), otherwise known as the Hat Trick, and if they add the 3.8-mile trail race to their registration, they will run 26.2 miles in races, the distance of a marathon. The first four Festivals featured between 5,000-6,000 participants, and have hosted Olympic marathoner Shalane Flanagan, Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray, Olympic Gold Medalist Summer Sanders, ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes and inspirational author Matt Long. The event has earned Gold Certification from the Council of Responsible Sport for its commitment to environmental and social responsibility. For more information or to register for any of the races or events, log on to www.RWHalf.com or get instant updates via Twitter (@rwhalf) and Facebook (Runner’s World Half & Festival).HaHalf

About the Council for Responsible Sport

The Council’s vision is a world where responsibly produced sports events are the norm and its mission is to provide objective, independent verification of the socially and environmentally responsible work event organizers are doing to make a difference in their communities. The current version of the Council’s Certification standards (v.4.2) was developed by an outside working group of both sustainability and sport industry experts, reviewed by a wide range of stakeholders throughout 2013 and implemented in January 2014. http://ift.tt/2ahZA3K

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