FEATURE : COUNTRYSIDE CODE
Gel packets, energy bar wrappers, water bottles, gloves, fancy dress, foil blankets and base layers are all needlessly discarded around the obstacle course. If you think that Gorilla suit is a good idea at the start line, you’d better have what it takes to get it to the finish. The same goes for the other items on the list, if you can ship it out whilst full on to the course then you can certainly get it back in with you empty. We all make bad clothing choices, but there’s really no need to dump what you don’t want in a hedge and leave it to someone else to clean up. The same applies to food wrappers and drink bottles. We have to take responsibility to go home with everything we came with, “to pack out what we pack in”. It’s simply unacceptable to litter car parks with filthy, unwanted clothes, shoes, bags, wrappers and Mylar blankets. Yes, the clothes are smelly and covered
in mud, and no, they’ll never pass the Daz doorstep challenge, but they’re yours. You brought them with you or picked them up at the finish, and you need to take them home. Why leave them for the greens team or for smaller races the actual Race directors themselves to have to pick up. It’s not really a great way to go about thanking them for the experience you’ve had with them. This is far more than just a litter issue though and not a burden that should be carried solely by race goers; race organisers also need to be accountable. But don’t be fooled. If event operators need to employ a clean-up crew to follow us round then costs will only increase. A very good example of how this can impact a race or your experience was when Spartan Race lost one of its venues earlier this year due to one of the Royal Deer choking on a energy gel wrapper.
In 2011, over 45,000 runners took part in the New York City Marathon, and over 100 tons of debris was picked up after the race from the water stops alone. The Race Directors could also play their own part in this too. Initiatives like keeping an eye on what packaging food vendors are using and a huge one would be better facilities to segregate recyclable materials and waste in the events areas too. We all love OCR, and I want to see the sport grow and be loved by everyone, including participants, spectators, organisers, hosts and most of all the people who use the land we race on for the other 364 days of the year. We get to see some wonderful parts of the countryside and go to places we might not normally visit. As such, we’re usually stepping into someone else’s back yard and need to be mindful of that fact and respectful of our surroundings.
LET’S MAKE OUR MANTRA “PACK OUT WHAT WE PACK IN, TAKE ONLY PICTURES, LEAVE ONLY FOOT PRINTS.”
Obstacle Race Magazine 69