Using triathlon rules for environmental stewardship

Doing the Ironman 70.3 Aix-en-Provence

On Sunday 19th of May, a group of friends and I took on the challenge of completing the Aix-en-Provence Half Ironman.

Ahead of us were 1.9km of swimming in the Peyrolles lake, 90km of cycling by the Sainte-Victoire mountain and 21km of running in the city centre.

It was a wonderfully well-organised event, crowned with success as everyone in the group was delighted with their performances.

For such long-distance endurance events, athletes require a lot of nutrition to keep going. Often, these precious shots of sugar are consumed in individual plastic packaging.

With 2271 athletes participating and a recommended 60-90 grams of carbohydrates to be consumed every hour, the potential for littering is immense.

For reference, Maurten gels, the race’s nutrition sponsor, contain 25 grams of carbohydrates per gel. With an average finish time of 6 hours and 2271 athletes, nearly 27,000 gels could have been consumed in Aix-en-Provence.

These are only estimations as triathletes will not exclusively consume gels, but they show the need for responsible waste management practices to prevent trash from ending up in nature.

Ironman rules to promote sustainability in sports

For all of its global races, Ironman has set rules to centralise waste collection and prevent littering. The 2024 competition rule book reads:

“Each athlete must not dispose of trash or equipment on the course except at aid stations or other designated trash-disposal points. Intentional or careless littering will result in a time penalty or disqualification.”

For the Aix-en-Provence 70.3 Half Ironman, the rules were even more precise:

“Athletes shall not dispose of trash or equipment on the course except at aid stations or other designated trash-disposal points. Intentional or careless littering will result in a 5:00 Minute Time Penalty if not intentional or disqualification if it is intentional.”

Incentivising athletes to be environmentally responsible

Prior to the event in both the race briefing and guidance documents, athletes are informed of how to dispose of their trash and the consequences of improper disposal.

Whether on the bike or when running, triathletes will pass aid stations where they will be able to collect hydration or nutrition.

These are dedicated “eco-zones” where they can throw away the trash they have accumulated when fueling themselves during the race.

If a referee catches anyone unintentionally littering outside of these zones, they will receive a blue card. The athlete will then have to serve a 5-minute penalty.

For pro triathletes, a 5-minute time penalty can be the difference between a podium with hopes of a world championship title or a disappointing race.

“We’re an organisation that does blow the whistle and there’s others, by the way, that don’t. It isn’t really advancing fair and safe racing to just not call penalties.”

Andrew Messick, IRONMAN CEO (2011-2024)

With such incentives, triathlons organised by Ironman are guiding athletes to dispose of their trash responsibly, minimising the impact they have on the locations welcoming the races and bringing sustainability to sports.