Reflecting on Year One of The Great Climate Race

Originally published on Medium: Ben West - 🐒🌻 on Medium

It’s interesting to reflect on where we were when something started, what was motivating us and then consider how our plans turned out.

It was a heck of a lot of work making that event a reality. I joked at the time that it would be like organizing a march but just faster. I was wrong about that and my health suffered along the way in part due to exhaustion. I worked hard and trained hard that year. I went from running my first marathon to barely being able to walk from one room to another in my apartment by the end of the year. But I survived, and when I look at what we accomplished, I’m so glad we took on all that work. So many cool people got involved and so many great organizations pitched in.

If you were at last year's race, then you know it was pretty magical. There were over 1,100 people coming together to do something collectively in support of climate solutions. There were a lot of kids (especially in the 2.5k around Lost Lagoon) as well as some very impressive athletes.

Over 30 runners finished in 40 minutes or less. One of my friends from high school, David Morrissey, ran the race and finished in second place in the 10k. A cool guy named Matt Harris (far right in this pic in the white socks) who works for LUSH won the 10k race.

There were some hot dogs and superheroes in the race and also all kinds of normal people who preferred a more relaxed approach to running, jogging, walking and strolling their way around the seawall.

We had fun prizes donated by some really cool folks. The winners of best costume won a Sauna Bus adventure.

The fastest team, the Vancouver Falcons, won a trip on a solar-powered catamaran.

The biggest team, the Latin Runners (over 100 members), won a movie screening at the Rio Theatre!

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for more announcements regarding prizes for this year — go here to get updates and discount codes.

To make that a reality meant months of outreach at all kinds of events. We were at expos, concerts, festivals and farmers markets.

We had over 300 super stoked volunteers on race day and many more in the months before the race. We did dozens of talks about climate change and renewable energy at schools, business lunch-and-learns, running clubs and more.

Another 300 people got involved from other parts of the world as part of our virtual race.

We worked with Climate Smart Businesses to track the carbon footprint of the event and offset all the emissions from travel and production. We had thousands of dollars in donations come in through individual fundraising pages and sponsorships.

When all was said and done, we raised around $40,000 for local solar energy projects (from approximately 1,000 donors), and in the months ahead we will be announcing the solar energy projects we are helping to have installed on the roofs of non-profit organizations in BC. Stay tuned for announcements.

This year the race in Vancouver — and the virtual race — will both be bigger and better. That means even more work, but I’m not worried because the network of people making it a reality is growing. I’m focusing on self-care and inspired by the desire of so many people to come together and make climate solutions a reality.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in our first year. If you missed it last year, now is the perfect time to start planning for this year or even to volunteer to help out this summer or join us on a training run or two. Working together, we can have a huge impact… one step at a time.

Bonus: My Original Article in The Georgia Straight

This was the original article I wrote in 2015 to kick off the project:
Ben West: Why I am organizing the Great Climate Race (Georgia Straight)

Have you ever had a good idea and then felt like, “Damn, now I need to do this”? That’s how I felt when we came up with the idea for the Great Climate Race, a new running event series that will raise funds for local community solar-energy projects. It wasn’t like I didn’t already have enough on my plate. But there was no putting this idea back in the box. It just needed to be done.

After months of planning and preparation, we launched publicly last week. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s truly heartwarming to see how excited people are to be involved. I feel like we are tapped into something with the potential to have a big impact.

Launching a new thing is a funny… you find yourself telling your “origin story” a lot. Where did this idea come from? Why are you doing it? What problem are you trying to solve? What makes this different from everything else that is out there?

Here is the story that answers these questions which I have been excitedly telling a lot recently.

I started running about a year ago as a way to burn off stress and feel healthier overall. Mostly I’ve been running with my dog Rosie around False Creek and Stanley Park. I entered my first race, the Vancouver Eastside 10K, last year and it had a big impact on me. Early in the run, I was pushing myself up a hill in East Vancouver and I saw a small group on the side of the road in the distance and my excitement transformed into a sense of guilt. People holding handmade signs were yelling at runners ahead of me as they went by. Were these protesters upset about the negative impact this race would have on their community? Was I unknowingly supporting an event that benefited an organization that was doing harm to the environment? I searched for an explanation as I strained my eyes to see what was written on their placards. I felt a wave of relief as I got to the top of the hill and read a sign that simply said, “GO GO GO!” Another sign said, “You can do it”, and my favourite one said, “High fives = an energy boost”. I beamed a goofy, delighted smile at the support crew on the side of the road and truly felt energized after collecting that high five.

As an environmental campaigner, I have spent most of my adult life organizing countless events. Most of them have prominently featured people holding signs that said “Stop” this or “No” to that.

For the first time, the signs I was surrounded by said “Go” instead of “Stop”. It was so simple yet so profound. There is something special happening in the running community that matched up really well with the transition to solutions that I am trying to make it my own work. It is so cool to find a whole new group of such positive people. It was amazing to watch all the volunteers and participants joined enthusiastically by their friends and family coming together to support good causes and one another.

My partner Mari and I founded the Great Climate Race together because we see it as a great opportunity to make a difference. We are so excited to be geeking out on how best to bring together the fun of an event like the Sun Run with the focus on raising money for specific projects like has become so popular on sites like Kickstarter and a dash of the theatrics of something like Cirque du Soleil. It’s fun to be working on a project together with my partner. We talk endlessly about ideas and plans while we walk our dog Rosie, cook dinner, or brainstorm in the living room. The glass surfaces in our apartment are all covered in colour-coordinated erasable ink lists and drawings. We have brought together a fantastic team of event planners, creative community organizers, and special advisors to help us turn this idea into a reality. Stay tuned for interactive guerrilla theatre, fun street art displays, and all kinds of surprises in the weeks ahead.

Addressing climate change can seem like an insurmountable challenge but we believe the positivity, compassion, and determination of the running community is a force to be reckoned with. It’s cool to see so many people who don’t run much if at all signing up as well people who already love to run. This is a great opportunity to make the links between our own health and the health of the planet. I hope many people have the same experience with running that I have had in terms of stress relief, increased energy levels, moving meditation, and a sense of accomplishment.

By crowdfunding for solar panels to donate to local charities and community organizations, hopefully we can also strengthen the ties between people working for solutions for the environment and those working on social issues. What will make this project work is all of you getting involved and making it your own. Dream big: where do you think there should be solar panels? What opportunities are we currently missing out on collectively? Please send us your feedback, your input, and your ideas. Get involved in our training runs and community meet-ups (sign up for the mailing list to find out when they are happening). Please use the Great Climate Race to help make your community part of the solution to climate change.

Ben West is a Vancouver environmentalist and cofounder of the Great Climate Race.

Thanks for helping build this joyful climate movement. 🌍💚