Posted: June 23, 2007

Triathlon: Strong Debut For Tri-Sustainability Initiative at 5430 Sprint Triathlon

Boulder, Colorado June 22, 2007— Last weekend, Olympian Susan Williams set a new course record at the EAS 5430 Sports Sprint Triathlon. 5430 Sports turned in a strong performance as well, not only promoting their typical high quality event, but by becoming the first sustainable triathlon event. The Tri-Sustainability Initiative helps 5430 Sports operate sustainable triathlon events and encourages participants to give sustainability a “Tri” at the race and at home. Inside Triathlon, Alpine Realty ( Boulder ), and Acquire Home Loans ( Colorado Springs ) have come on board thus far to support 5430 Sports’ Tri-Sustainability Initiative, allowing the focus to be on two major components necessary for sustainable events: working towards becoming Zero Waste events, and becoming carbon-neutral events. 5430 Sports worked closely with Eco-Cycle in attempting to make the EAS 5430 Sprint Triathlon a Zero Waste event, and achieved incredible success – a 93% diversion rate! For the two-day event at the Boulder Reservoir, 93% of the total trash generated was recycled or composted, and only 7% ended up in a landfill. This outcome has tangible benefits for the environment, saving the equivalent of 11 trees and 1341 KW of energy, while helping create 2.7 tons of compost. 5430 Sports also partnered with Native Energy to offset their carbon dioxide emissions from the event through the purchase of renewable energy credits. These credits help fund Native American-owned wind farms. Clif Bar was also on hand to offer participants ‘Cool Tags,’ a $2 renewable energy credit meant to offset racers’ carbon emissions generated by their travel to the race. Clif Bar and 5430 Sports sold enough ‘Cool Tags’ to offset over 28,000 miles of driving! While the Tri-Sustainability Initiative has gotten off to a good start, the program’s continued success depends on the support and involvement of event participants. “We received great encouragement over the weekend. It was rewarding to see everyone race hard, and then reduce their impact. What could be better?” said 5430 Sports Environmental Coordinator Stu Gillespie. 5430’s next race, which will also include many of the Tri-Sustainability components, will be the Uni-Hill 2K on Thursday, June 28 in Boulder . For more about the Tri-Sustainability Initiative and 5430 Sports, visit www.5430sports.com. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest