Running against climate change
UU students and staff at the start of the first Climate Marathon
IMAU employees, Swinda Falkena is the second person from the left wearing the "climate stripes" shirt. Picture: courtesy of the depicted.
Four teams will participate in the marathon on behalf of the Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (IMAU). Postdoc Swinda Falkena (31) took the initiative. “This marathon combines my two greatest passions: running and the climate,” she says.
IMAU conducts fundamental climate research, so Falkena’s proposal to participate in the relay race was met with a lot of enthusiasm. First, she asked the institute's board to reimburse the registration costs. Once that was taken care of, she walked all around the office to persuade her colleagues to join. Twenty said yes.
Not all of them were experienced runners, though, which is why they started a running group together. Every Monday and Wednesday, around lunchtime, three to six colleagues prepare for the race at and around Utrecht Science Park. They enjoy running together.
Falkena says the runners’ excitement is infectious. With only one week to go before the event, the conversation topic during breaks is almost always the same, “even when chatting with other colleagues, many of whom will come to cheer for us.”
Powerful icons
People could sign up for the Climate Marathon in teams of two to seven for a distance of either 27 or 47 kilometres. They can start the race in either De Bilt or Amersfoort. The 36 teams will tackle the distance in a so-called "run-bike-run" relay, in which the participants will take turns running while the rest of the team cycles along.
The route choice was very intentional as it includes two "powerful icons": the meteorological institute KNMI and Amersfoort – which, according to the organisation, might be called "Amersfoort at sea" in the future.
The marathon is organised by the Running4Climate Foundation, which aims to encourage people to make climate-conscious decisions. At the same time, participants can let others sponsor them to help Wetlands International, an organisation that works across the globe to protect and recover the wetlands (swamps, mangroves, river deltas, and other wet or marshy landscapes).
Going outside
Enthusiastic runner Falkena plans to run the entire 47 kilometres as a single-person team. “I’m training for a 100-mile (160 km) ultramarathon in August, so this is a great opportunity for me to train for that.” After the Climate Marathon, she will keep running with her colleagues as they intend to maintain the running group. “People really appreciate going outside during lunch break,” says Falkena.
The Climate Marathon follows the success of the Climate Classic, a cycling event that takes place on the same day and is being held for the fifth time this year. Around 2,500 participants will cycle distances between 40 and 375 kilometres between Breda and Groningen, along "the Netherlands’ future coastline". De Bilt is a central location for the cycling event as well.
All participants can be recognised by their shirts, which will be adorned with the "climate barcode", a visualisation of the average temperatures throughout the years, developed by British climate scientist Ed Hawkings. To call attention to this graphic, June 21 has been declared "Show Your Stripes" Day. The organisation is also using the shirts to set an unofficial Show Your Stripes world record.