GÖTEBORGSVARVET HALF MARATHON TO BE HONOURED WITH 2016 AIMS GREEN AWARD
The world running organisation the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) is delighted to declare the GöteborgsVarvet Half Marathon as the 2016 recipient of the AIMS Green Award.
The award, which is designed to reward best environmental practice in marathon events, will be presented to the successful Swedish race during the fourth annual AIMS Best Marathon Runner’ (BMR) Awards Dinner Reception to be held in the birth place of the Marathon in Athens, Greece on 11 November 2016.
Candidates for the AIMS Green Award were judged upon a number of criteria including the impact the race has had on promoting environmentally friendly practices in marathon events, how volunteers contribute to the success of the project and the ability for the race to educate younger generations about the benefits of sport and environmental protection. The two other shortlisted races were the Maratón de la Ciudad de Mexico and the SwissCityMarathon from Lucerne, Switzerland.
The GöteborgsVarvet is the largest half marathon in the world with over 64,000 participants. They have been recognised for their long term goals in environmental protection and their track record of success in this area. In 2012 and 2014 they received environmental diplomas and in May 2016 became one of the first races in the world to receive ISO 20121 certification. ISO 20121 is a management system standard that has been designed to help organizations in the events industry improve the sustainability of their event related activities, products and services.
For their 2016 race they ensured that sustainability was at the forefront of their social media, press releases and around the event. In an effort to tackle CO2 emissions the GöteborgsVarvet provided free public transport for all participants for three days during the week of the race. 75% of runners used this offer to collect their numbers and travel to and from the event. In addition to these efforts, the GöteborgsVarvet have implemented many other environmentally conscious projects such as serving vegan and vegetarian food, collecting waste, donating left over clothes to charity and many other projects. Looking to the future the race holds free running events throughout the year in 35 different cities in Sweden with 25,000 people participating. These events educate runners and prepare them for their race.
Paco Borao, President of AIMS commented: “I am very much looking forward to receiving the GöteborgsVarvet Half Marathon to the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards Dinner Reception in the home of the Marathon in Athens, Greece. They have shown a long term commitment to green policies and it is my honour to see them recognised in this way.”
Bo Edsberger, Race Director of the GöteborgsVarvet Half Marathon comments: “We are honored to receive this award from such a renowned organization as AIMS. We were very proud to receive ISO 20121 certification earlier this year and to receive the AIMS Green Award is another great success. We would like to thank AIMS, their members and sponsors for recognizing us and our sustainable work with this great award.”
About the AIMS Green Award
AIMS has been honouring races with the AIMS Green Award that have shown exceptional work in this area since 2013. However, AIMS intention is not only to honour ‘environmental initiatives’ of its members, but also to help them improve their races, in terms of good environmental practices during their marathon events. To this end, AIMS in collaboration with the Institute Team for the World Environmental Alliance 2004+, a scientific non-governmental not-for-profit organization headed by Mr. George Kazantzopoulos, former Member of the IOC Sport & Environment Commission, has established a set of environmental guidelines, in line with the IOC Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21**, over and above the creation of the AIMS Green Award.
