Sustainability
Over it’s 9 year history the Tomoka Marathon has worked hard to establish itself as one on the greenest events in the area. We incorporate our desire to be eco-friendly in all of our product and vendor selections and often make the green choice rather than the cheapest choice.
We believe that by simply bringing runners to witness the unique beauty of the Tomoka Loop you will come to love and appreciate it as we do. Our hope is that you will in turn want to help protect and preserve it and other natural areas like it.
Each year we add additional measures to reduce our impact on the beautiful areas covered by our courses.
Our 2021 green initiatives include:
- All event shirts and volunteer shirts will be made from 100% recycled material (recycled plastic bottles and upcycled cotton) by Recover Brands, removing 8 plastic bottles from landfills per shirt.
- We use only compostable paper cups at our water-stops and the finish line (never plastic!)
- We invite runners to bring their own reusable cup, water bottle or hydration system. These can be filled quickly and easily at water station during the race.
- No individual plastic water bottles will be provided at the finish line. Cold water and Gatorade along with paper cups were made available to runners as they completed the race and throughout the finish area.
- Recycle bins were provided at the finish line for anyone who brought their own cans or bottles. We encouraged runners to use them and delivered the contents to recycle stations.
- All clothing discarded by runners at the race start was collected and donated to local charities
- We provide sturdy compostable paper plates and compostable utensils for all post-race food.
- We work with a local company to compost food waste.
- Post race beer is provided in recyclable aluminum cans and not plastic cups
- All packaging material from race supplies will be reused or recycled
- We encouraged vendors and sponsors to limit use of single use plastic in their promotional items
For 2021, The Tomoka Marathon has taken the Pledge of Sustainability offered by Athletes for a Fit Planet We have again committed to all of the above initiatives and are working with the organization to accurately measure our environmental impact and identify additional practices that will take us further on our sustainability journey.
Stay tuned to our race page and runner communications for more information.
We are also open to your input on how to make the Tomoka Marathon greener!!
