Now in its 5th year, the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco is one of the first half marathon and full marathon events inspired by, and for, women [5.1]. The race benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Since its inception, the event has raised $78M for cancer research, including $18M in 2008 [4.4].

The event has seen rapid growth - from 9,000 in its first year to over 20,000 registered participants in 2008. It supports direct involvement by youth and newcomers with an emphasis on women, particularly young women. It is one of the few Nike-owned events in the country. Along with the Nike Event Team, Nike employs the race production firm Tri-California and the media/brand production firm On Board Entertainment, both Bay Area organizations [4.2]. As the driving force, Joan Benoit Samuelson pushes for the event to focus on reducing its environmental impact. In support of Joan's wishes, Nike has committed to an aggressive 5-year environmental management plan.

Many participants are from the Bay Area, yet competitors travel from all over the world to participate. The event showcases the iconic places and sights of San Francisco. The Expo, or Expotique as it is called, as well as the race start, utilize the city's community hub - Union Square, easily accessible by public transportation. The point-to-point course takes runners along scenic by-ways and past notable points of interest including Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, and the Great Highway [4.1]. Taking place in one of the country's most environmentally progressive communities, the event takes advantage of mass transit systems and existing waste, recycling, and compost recovery and processing infrastructure.

Waste
The primary environmental focus followed the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. On the recycling front, approximately 60 trash, composting, and recycling centers were placed along the Great Highway and throughout Marathon Village. Volunteers from the San Francisco Conservation Corps and Labor Ready manned each station to answer questions and ensure proper disposal [1.1-1.6]. Success in making sure articles were deposited in the proper receptacles varied widely and primarily depended on the volunteer stationed at the cluster.

Sunset Scavenger collected and weighed recycled and compostable content from the Expotique and race course. Twelve hundred pounds of compostables were collected from the Thursday evening event at Union Square, however the exact weight of trash/recycling/composting generated specifically from race weekend and packet pick-up could not be accurately measured because it was not separate from the other Union Square trash/recycling/composting. Compostable water cups were used at aid stations along the course, but they were not bagged in the appropriate bio-bags. Fortunately, the composting processor was able to deal with this issue, and the cups were composted. Gatorade-provided aid station cups, though sometimes not compostable, were also able to be processed by the commercial composter used by the race [1.6].

The event recycled paper, cardboard, and plastic water bottles [1.1-1.5], donated leftover food [1.6] to charities, and strived to reduce the waste generated per participant by 10% from last year (though it did not end up doing so). In 2007, 11.2 tons of waste were hauled from the finish line area, and 2.6 tons (11.9%) were recycled. In 2008, 24.1 tons of trash was generated, while 1.2 tons went to composting and 10.5 tons were recycled. This disparity from 2007 to 2008 is the reason the event was not awarded credit 1.9. However, it is believed that the disparity is due to the attention paid to the comprehensive waste calculation plan implemented in 2008 compared to 2007.

In an effort to reduce waste, all banners and plastic signage were made without metal grommets. This decision allowed these pieces of collateral to be more easily recycled or reused, while also reducing production costs to the event. An enterprising volunteer was seen offering water bottle refills for participants running with personal water bottles [6.2].

Branded collateral is designed and produced annually for the event, resulting in single-use banners and signage that in past years became trash. In an effort to reuse such materials, these articles were diverted from the landfill and donated to SCRAPS (Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts - www.scrap-sf.org). Ultimately, 2,800 pounds of reusable collateral materials were donated to SCRAP and thus diverted from the landfill [6.2].

Climate
The start of the race was accessible by public transportation, and shuttles were provided from central parking areas. Shuttles were also available for participants to and from the Expotique, start-to-finish, and from the finish back to the parking areas and transit hubs. Event staff and volunteers were reimbursed for using public transportation [2.2]. An effort was made to incorporate the use of electric or propane powered utility vehicles on the course and at Union Square [2.3]. Media and VIP course shuttles were conventional gas-powered vans, however a "no engine idling" policy was implemented. This was a noble effort but difficult to enforce and measure compliance. Bear Naked, a granola company, sponsored a Bike Valet program, which did not see much use probably due to inaccessibility from mass transit and the close proximity of downtown hotels.

Significant efforts were made to source food locally, however bananas do not grow within 250 miles of San Francisco and thousands of bananas were present in the finish area [2.4]. Organic foods were available to finishers [2.5].

In conversations with Joan Benoit Samuelson, the race course may be modified in the future to become a looped course, thus reducing the need for shuttling participants from the finish and other point-to-point travel. This would also make the event more spectator-friendly, though it poses other logistical issues.

Equipment & Materials
Registration was 99% paperless, and no printed results were posted. Instead, results were provided at laptop computer stations where participants walked up, typed in their information, and received splits, place, and finish times on screen [3.2].

Each finisher was awarded a signature Tiffany's necklace and charm individually packaged in a blue Tiffany's box. This is not ideal from an environmental standpoint, but it's one of the major reasons why women run the race. As mentioned earlier, custom fabrication of branded collateral in the past precluded significant reuse of these materials, however this year efforts were taken to promote reuse. All age group awards (174 of them) include a tote bag made from last year's PVC banners/collateral (www.retroactif.net) [3.7].

Finisher food was served using compostable plates, cups, and utensils. Recyclable (#1 PET), plastic Jamba Juice cups were used at the Expotique and Marathon Village, rather than their usual polystyrene cups (#6). It was later determined that the straws and lids to these cups were not recyclable.

Bear Naked also used locally-produced compostable cups and spoons and recyclable yogurt containers. All Bear Naked bags were sent to Terracycle to be made into other products [3.8].

Community & Outreach
The event utilized pre and post-race communication on the website, blogs, and press releases to promote alternative transportation options and provide education to participants and spectators [5.4]. A key piece of communication about reducing environmental impact was distributed at packet pickup via a seed paper postcard, which included ten suggestions on how to be a "greener" runner[4.5]. Shoe donation was encouraged through Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe Program. As mentioned above, the race raised $18M to support cancer research [4.3].

Significant opportunity was missed at both the start and finish to educate and increase awareness of environmental initiatives. Green talking points were not addressed.

Health Promotion
The event attracts participation by women affected by cancer. More than 50 youths from the Mt. Gleason Middle School ran as a group, with entry fees waived. The event also utilizes youth groups to serve as volunteers [5.2].

Innovation
The Nike Women's Marathon was one of six fall marathons participating in a pilot recycling project of Heatsheets finisher's blankets. Heatsheets were collected at recycling stations throughout the post-finish area and weighed to gauge recovery success. Recovery rate was only 4%, but practically all of the Heatsheets discarded at the event were recycled [6.1].

As part of the 5-year sustainability plan, the weight of discarded material, donated collateral, and SCRAPS will be measured and recorded to establish a baseline for future years [6.2]. Along the course, runners were provided the option to check or donate their long sleeve shirts or jackets [6.3].

The event made significant strides in its first year with a sustainability focus. The biggest improvements were made in reuse and recycling efforts. While pre-race education and awareness of environmental initiatives was emphasized, and on-site recycling efforts were visible and obvious, no green talking points were heard at the start or finish areas. The event missed an opportunity to educate participants and spectators. There is always room for improvement, and the marathon succeeded in taking many first steps down the road to become more earth-friendly. Metrics were established, lessons were learned, and most importantly, a plan is in place for the future.