Help us in our new partnership with The Green Runners and win a £30 voucher

Last year we launched our Sustainability Strategy, outlining our commitment to supporting best practice across the organisation and a recognition that the fitness industry has an important role to play in social, environmental and economic sustainability.

To support this commitment we are delighted to announce a new partnership with The Green Runners.

The latest findings from our membership survey found that 84% of regular runners in England said they are interested in sustainability as a part of everyday life and now is a critical time for us to ensure our clubs, events and wider community can shift this interest into action through the sport we all love.

The Green Runners will be working with us to help affiliated clubs, RunTogether groups and athletes take positive environmental action. The focus of the partnership will be encouraging tangible action, providing resources, supporting progress and celebrating successes. Find out more about helping trial this process.

About The Green Runners

The Green Runners formed in 2022 following the COP26 Climate Conference after what was seen as disappointing commitments to the climate crisis. They are CIO Association based in the UK, welcoming membership from all over the world. They have over 1000 members and are growing by the day. They are 100% volunteer run and remain independent from corporate sponsorship.

The Green Runners are a community with a vision of running without a footprint. They are on a mission to help people run with more awareness of the planet and to challenge the status quo of the running industry, which is often unaware of the impact it is having on the planet. They are for any athlete, club or event director who cares about climate change and is asking “how do I do something positive to be a bit greener?”

To help with this they have created four pillars and ask members to pledge small changes in each of the pillars when they join:

• How we move: Our travel has the greatest impact on the environment. Over 90% of an event’s carbon footprint comes from a runner’s travel, with air travel having the biggest impact.
• How we kit up: As runners we are constantly being bombarded with new kit by brands and runners on social media. In reality, we probably already have more than enough kit to train and race effectively. As a Green Runner, we try to question every new purchase.
• How we eat: Our diet as runners and in wider society has a considerable impact on the environment. The Green Runners encourage people to reduce their meat consumption and in general focus on higher quality, locally sourced produce wherever possible.
• How we speak out: The final pillar of being a Green Runner is to help spread the word. They believe this isn’t about a small group doing this brilliantly, it’s creating a widespread change across the sporting community to help people to continuously improve whilst still enjoying their sport.

As Jasmin Paris, Ultra Runner and one of the co-founders of The Green Runners, says

“We hope the running community can lead the way, giving people the tools and confidence to speak out and the opportunity to play a part in making a change. Together we can show what happens when a powerful community comes together.”

What does this partnership mean for you and your club?

We will be working with The Green Runners to build some useful tips and resources to help you engage with our Sustainability Guidance. We will be trialling how this could work over the coming months. Gathering insights, looking at how we can make it tailored, easy to action and how The Green Runners community can support.

• If your club would like to take part in this trial please email sustainability@englandathletics.org
• You can find out more about The Green Runners at www.thegreenrunners.com.
• You can also sign up on their website too. Joining is simple and affordable, just £2.50 a year towards running costs, and then you can pay a little extra to order your Green Runners badge, printed onto old race tees of course, no waste here!