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As the 54th edition of the TCS New York City Marathon wends its way through the city’s five boroughs on Sunday, November 3, a group of 250 runners out of the field of more than 50,000 will be pioneers.
They are the first cohort of the New York Road Runners Team for Climate. All 250 will have raised $3,000 each by the time the marathon starts, with the money supporting carbon offset projects in New York State. This is the latest in the ongoing efforts by the Road Runners, the nonprofit that manages the Marathon, to minimize its climate impacts.
GSB spoke with New York Road Runners CEO Rob Simmelkjaer as well as sustainability and corporate social responsibility director Aly Criscuolo about how Team for Climate came to be, the program’s goals, and more.
GreenSportsBlog: I’d like to get into the Team for Climate birth story. How and why did it come about?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Soon after starting here at New York Roadrunners in December 2022, I had meetings with Aly about our climate impacts. This was going to be a high priority for us, with the organization already having committed to get to net zero by 2040. I asked Aly this simple question: Why can’t we get to net zero sooner, by reducing our carbon emissions and offsetting what we can’t reduce faster? As we were developing ideas, we looked to an existing program that had nothing to do with the environment or climate.
GSB: What was that?
Rob: A program called Team for Kids. Runners who join this group will get a bib to run in the TCS New York City Marathon by committing to raise $3,000 in donations that will go to support youth running training sessions and events and thus ensure the sport has a healthy future. Team for Kids was an immediate hit and so when we started brainstorming on new environmental initiatives, we asked, “why not do something similar with climate?” Given the urgency of the climate crisis, we wanted something we could scale up quickly and Team for Climate fit that bill. So, work started early this year, we launched it in late June and all 250 slots were filled almost immediately.
New York Road Runners CEO Rob Simmelkjaer (Photo credit: NYRR)
GSB: How do you determine the number of slots?
Rob: Great question. First, we have hundreds of charity partners for the marathon, with most getting between one to five entries or “bibs”. Team for Climate is at the high end with 250 bibs and we’re happy to go that route. As a new program, we expected it would sell out quickly and that certainly was the case.
GSB: So, what is the deadline for the 250 Team for Climate runners to have completed their fundraising?
Aly Criscuolo: They have until October 9 to get to the $3,000 mark.
Rob: If a runner brings in less than $3,000, then he/she is responsible for the difference. If the runner goes over that threshold, he/she does not have to pay anything aside from a $150 processing fee.
GSB: So, we’re looking at a minimum of $750,000 raised by the Team for Climate runners that will be invested in offset programs. What metrics did New York Road Runners use to determine the offset providers and what projects is the program supporting?
Aly: We did a great deal of due diligence on finding an offset provider. The Environmental Defense Fund, a well-respected environmental nonprofit with which we’ve worked recommended several potential partners. We were looking for a provider whose projects ticked three key boxes. They are:
- Highly rated, third party verified.
- New York State-based. This was huge for us and those are hard to find.
- Forestry projects — meaning tree preservation and tree planting. Again, this was very important since running is done outside, in nature.
Ultimately, we partnered with Anew Climate since they pass all three tests.
GSB: What forests are the Team for Climate runners helping to preserve?
Aly: Working with Anew, we’re going forward with two — The Hartwood Forestry Project, across 6,000-plus acres of forestland in southern New York State, and the Eagle Mountain Forestry Project. The latter, also 6,000-plus acres, cuts across New York as well as parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. That Eagle Mountain is a popular spot for running, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing is also a big plus.
Bear Pond Forest, a key part of Eagle Mountain Forestry Project that is being protected by NY Road Runner’s Team for Climate offset program (Photo credit: Eagle Mountain Forestry Project)
GSB: I certainly understand that New York State offset projects make sense for the TCS New York City Marathon. Now, tree planting has been at the heart of a great deal of controversy and scrutiny, especially over the past couple of years, with the assertion being that it is not the best approach for climate mitigation. How did you deal with that?
Aly: Great question. As we did our due diligence on potential offset partners, we were told that it is very important to diversify the types of projects — much like one would diversify a financial portfolio — between avoidance of emissions and removal of emissions. It’s important to invest in both types of projects.
GSB: Talk about distinguishing between avoidance and removal…
Aly: …Avoidance happens when an entity like Anew provides financial incentives to forest owners to avoid chopping down trees and/or avoid allowing logging on the property. Removal means investing in planting more trees and protecting more forests, so more carbon is absorbed. Both Hartwood and Eagle Mountain qualify for both avoidance and removal credits.
Rob: And it’s important to note that this is just the start for us. We need to look at all potential avenues when it comes to emissions reductions and offsets because the truth is, the Marathon’s biggest carbon impacts come from emissions generated by runner travel. And since the scaling up of low- and zero-carbon air travel is still a long way off, we can’t wait. So, we follow the guidance from the Voluntary Carbon Market Initiative (VCMI) which advises organizations to measure, reduce, and offset emissions, all at the same time.
GSB: Beyond the offset program, what else are some other elements of Team for Climate?
Rob: One thing we’re very excited about are the solar generators that will be powering the start tent for the Team for Climate runners. And the runners themselves have committed to taking the most sustainable modes of transportation possible to the starting line, including subway, the Staten Island Ferry, and more.
GSB: Finally, how are you and the New York Road Runners team going to spread the word about Team for Climate to the millions of people who will be watching the Marathon on TV and online?
Rob: Team for Climate is a major priority for us and so it will be featured on the race broadcast which will air on WABC-TV locally in New York and on ESPN nationally. It will be the #1 thing I talk about it on every interview I do in the run up to the race, including on our own Set the Pace podcast. You will see Team for Climate content on our website, our Climate Week NYC panel in about three weeks, our plogging event before the marathon, and at our sustainability panel at the race week expo at Javits Center.
Photo at top: Aly Criscuolo, New York Road Runner’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility director (r), is joined by NYRR’s sustainability coordinator Lou Mialhe (l) and sustainable running advocate and author Tina Muir at a recent NYRR plogging event. Mialhe and Muir are both EcoAthletes Champions (Photo credit: NYRR)
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