2018 US Trail Running Conference announces groundbreaking Responsible Sport Certification and sponsorship agreement with Ragnar Events

Organizers seek to take a further step forward and share education in leadership of responsible trail running across all trail races and trail runners.

The US Trail Running Conference is seeking to be the first sport related Conference to be awarded a certification from the Council for Responsible Sport for the 2018 event. The industry leading Conference connects and empowers race directors, trail runners, and trade leaders, and works to share best practices with the trail running community. The sixth annual US Trail Running Conference takes place August 29-31, 2018, at the Dairy Creek Golf Club, and is presented by the City of San Luis Obispo, CA, and Race Roster, the fastest growing endurance registration website in North America. The Conference is also held in partnership with the American Trail Running Association, and Race SLO. The Conference weekend rounds out with the SLO Ultra, with four race distances over trails in San Luis Obispo, including the RRCA State trail marathon championships.

Keith Peters presents on responsible trail running events at the 2017 US Trail Running Conference

The Council for Responsible Sport have certified hundreds of sporting events that have completed a process which evaluates that the event has made a thorough and systematic effort to become more responsible. The Certification process encourages event organizers to consider key goals and objectives when dealing with procurement, resource management, community legacy, access, and equity. Since 2008, the Council for Responsible Sport has certified 150 sporting events that have completed a systematic process that evaluates responsible event production plans, policies and procedures across five broad categories; planning and communications, procurement, resource management, access and equity, and community legacy.

Board member and former Council executive director Keith Peters has worked with US Trail Running Conference organizers the past two years to help quantify numerous efforts to implement more responsible event production practices, and looks forward to the Conference’s pursuit of Council certification this year: “The 2018 US Trail Running Conference is on track to become the first sport-related conference to achieve certification from the Council for Responsible Sport. By doing so, the Conference truly steps into a leadership position in the trail running world, with the potential to influence event production practices of hundreds of trail events.”

Ragnar started in 2004, growing from a single relay in Utah, to become the largest overnight relay series in the US, described as “the best running party under the stars.” Their life-changing social running experience transforms a team of individuals into a cohesive tribe of Ragnarians. More than 2 million miles have been covered in the last two years by 210,000 Ragnarians taking part in 38 relays a year across both road and trail.

The path to event certification with the Council for Responsible Sport has been made possible by a sponsorship provided by Ragnar. Steven Aderholt, Senior VP of Operations for Ragnar Events, comments: “Ragnar is grateful for the partnership with the US Trail Running Conference and happy to help ensure the conference minimizes its impact on the earth. We believe it is essential for race directors to organize environmentally and socially responsible events, this partnership is just another way for Ragnar to put our efforts behind this mission.

Event Director for the US Trail Running Conference, Terry Chiplin adds: “I am very excited to finalize the process to gain certification for the 2018 US Trail Running Conference with the Council for Responsible Sport, and am grateful for the partnership with Ragnar that makes this possible. Ragnar has taken a key leadership role in the industry by making their events responsible, having had six of their trail relay events certified by the Council, and it is completely appropriate that their support enables the Conference to also fulfill a leadership role in trail running events. We look forward to working with both the Council for Responsible Sport and Ragnar Events in this process, and to encourage responsible trail running for everyone in our sport.”

Registration for the 2018 US Trail Running Conference is open for all trail race directors, trail runners, sponsors, and exhibitors, and includes a discounted entry for any of the SLO Ultra races on September 1, 2018.

See www.ustrailrunningconference.com for more details, or contact Event Director, Terry Chiplin, terry@ustrailrunningconference.com, or 303-304-9159.

Contact for Council for Responsible Sport – Keith Peters, keith@councilforresponsiblesport.org

Contact for Ragnar – Steven Aderholt, steven@ragnarrelay.com

#TrailConference #SLOUltra #RaceSLO #shareSLO #trailrunning

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