This week, ActiveEndurance announced the launch of its "Go Green" program in partnership with Athletes for a Fit Planet LLC, an organization that provides environmentally responsible solutions for endurance race and event organizers. Designed to encourage and enable the endurance sports community to embrace green practices, Active's "Go Green" program recognizes and rewards race organizations that commit to adopting environmentally responsible practices.

Active worked with Athletes for a Fit Planet (AFP) to identify criteria for its "Go Green" program that includes a Pledge of Sustainability. By signing up for the program and taking the Pledge of Sustainability, race organizations make a public commitment to initiate a minimum of 10 specific practices to reduce the environmental impact of their events. Active's list of "Go Green" criteria range from the elimination of paper registration forms and providing onsite recycling bins to supporting local environment causes.

"Athletes for a Fit Planet is excited to be partnering with Active to integrate the Pledge of Sustainability into Active's 'Go Green' program. This is the first program of its kind to provide event organizers with independent recognition for their commitment to a set of environmental initiatives. And athletes looking for green events can now register with confidence because the Pledge of Sustainability criteria will be available on Active's Go Green listing and Athletes for a Fit Planet's Green Events Directory."

Bruce Rayner, founder and chief green officer of Athletes for a Fit Planet

By registering for Active's "Go Green" program and taking the Pledge of Sustainability, event organizations receive a number of benefits including:

		Pledge of Sustainability seal that can be featured on their event site, banners and other materials
		Events will be posted on a special Protect Your Playground section on Active.com and on the AFP event calendar
		Access to the AFP Resource Center that includes a Green Events Handbook, Green Business Directory and other valuable resources
		Exclusive discounts on Active and AFP services and products.

Upon completion of the event, the event organizer will provide AFP with documentation that verifies that the event met its Pledge criteria. The event will receive a Verification Certificate and their seal will be updated with a "Verified" stamp on both Active.com and AFP's Web site to indicate the event has met its Pledge.

"Unlike any other organization in the nation, Active has relationships with more than 15,000 endurance races and events. We realized that by introducing a green validation program to race organizations and offering incentives to participate, we could make a significant impact in helping drive green practices. We expect to see more and more participants seeking out races that feature the Athletes for a Fit Planet Pledge of Sustainability."

Eric McCue, General Manager of ActiveEndurance

Event directors and organizers interested in more information about Active's "Go Green" program can contact us or go to www.ActiveEndurance.com.

Athletes for a Fit Planet (AFP) is a leading provider of eco-services for athletic events in the US and Canada. The company offers support and validation for events that take the Pledge of Sustainability, including listing in the Green Events Directory. The company advises event organizers on cost-effective strategies for reducing, recycling and composting waste, reducing and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, greening the supply chain, and minimizing the impact of the event on the local environment. And AFP works with event sponsors to provide opportunities to communicate their own green initiatives to athletes. Visit them at www.afitplanet.com.

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Does your event have a large number of registration categories? If so, we recommend using our Group Categories tool to make the registration process smoother for your participants.

Please follow these steps to group categories:

1. Go to www.active.com/explorer.
2. Type in your username and password, click log in.
3. When the page refreshes go to the "Select Listing ->" drop down bar located in the top left – pull the bar down to select which listing you would like to access.
4. Once you have selected a listing you will see a set of yellow folders on the left hand side of the page; Group Categories will be listed under the Registration Categories folder
5. Enter the Name of each category group and click save (i.e. "Adult Registration" and "Youth Registration")
6. Once you have added all of your groups, you must associate each category to a group by checking the appropriate box and click Save Associations.

Note: If you do not associate a category with a group, it will not appear on your registration page and participants will be unable to select it.

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Have you wondered how the financial headlines will affect your event's bottom line? Given the uncertain state of the economy, this is a subject that concerns every event director. Join ActiveEndurance on August 27 for our complimentary webinar, part of our Event Director Best Practices Webinar Series, to gain insights about the impact of current economic trends on endurance events. Register now!

Whether your event is large or small, you won't want to miss this opportunity to learn about practical considerations for any event director. Our webinar will cover these topics and more:

Event Economics 101

		Understanding fixed costs versus variable costs
		How to gauge supply and demand
		Finding and marketing to your event niche
		Economics and your budget
		The impact of charitable fundraising
		Understanding the prize money/media connection

Strategies for survival in the current economy

		Determining the optimal fee structure
		How the economy impacts sponsorship opportunities
		Retaining quality while reducing costs
		Understanding your customer - inside the mind of the participant
		Learning from similar business and sports models

Looking to the future

		Where is the sport headed economically?
		Where will your event fit in?

Date: August 27, 2009
Time: 1:00 PM PDT (4:00 PM EDT)
Presenter: Don Allison

Don is the owner of Start to Finish race consulting in Boston, and teaches sports economics as an adjunct professor at Newbury College in Brookline. He writes for several publications and Web sites, including Active.com, and was one of the co-founders of Cool Running. As an athlete, Don has competed for more than 30 years. His list of accomplishments includes numerous Ironman triathlons and ultra marathons, as well as more than 50 marathons, with a personal best of 2:35:30, set in the 1988 Boston Marathon.

Register Now for This Free Webinar! Space is Limited.

There's more: If you ever miss a live webinar, you don't have to miss out! Just go to our Web site where you can download any of our recorded webinars, including the presentation slides, and view when it's convenient for you.

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For the past 9 years, Susie has been Race Director of the Omaha Marathon, since the evening she says she "walked into the race director thing by raising my hand when the former race director said he couldn't do it anymore - I didn't want to see the race die." Susie credits her passion for carrying her through the last 9 successful years leading the event with dedicated volunteers, participants and sponsors.

The Omaha Marathon is a 34-year old tradition. Over the years, the race course has been changed several times. Currently, the race is held in September and is planned to finish near the Lewis & Clark Landing, right along the river and the new Bob Kerrey bridge, offering an inspiring view at the race finish and an ideal setting for the finish-line party. Post-race celebrations include a "libation garden" with food, music, magicians and more. Under Susie's leadership, live music has become part of the race course, with local musicians set-up along the way to motivate runners and entertain spectators.

Susie works hard to add new twists to the event each year to make the race a memorable one. For example, this year the event includes a "Team Boxer 500" race, which benefits Colon Cancer Research. Borrowing an idea from another local race that encouraged participants to wear boxer shorts to promote awareness of Colon Cancer Prevention, Susie decided to offer registration to teams of 10 or more runners wearing boxer shorts – ideally in bold colors and prints! All with the goal of building awareness of Colon Cancer prevention and to raise money for the cause.

The Omaha Marathon also partners with charities such as TNT, the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, the Buford Foundation, and Make-A-Wish, as well as others.

For 2010, in celebration of the Marathon's 35th anniversary, Susie plans to take the event as green as green can get. Susie says they've already made a head start this year by reducing the use of paper products and utilizing more Web site and email communication. She plans to launch a new Web site for the 2010 event at this year's marathon, with more interactive features and fun content. Also featured on the new site will be tips such as "Living a Greener Lifestyle" and health advice for becoming a healthier runner.

Susie hopes the 2010 event will attract up to 5000 participants and to orchestrate the finish line at Omaha's new baseball stadium. Such ambitious plans will make for a busy and exciting year of planning, much of which is accomplished with the help of volunteers. Susie enjoys the opportunity to build relationships with both volunteers and participants. "We could not have a successful event, growing year after year, without volunteers. I wish there was more we could do to pay them back," said Susie. "And the feeling I get watching folks cross the finish line, after all the work and sweat that went into the event - it's priceless."

As an Occupational Health Nurse, Susie believes in living a healthy lifestyle, and appreciates the opportunity to encourage others in pursuit of the same. She enjoys "witnessing others fulfill their dreams of running a marathon, half-marathon or whatever the goal is that they've achieved by pushing themselves farther than they ever thought possible." From this experience comes Susie's theme for the Omaha Marathon: "Race for All Reasons," which speaks to the many reasons for crossing that finish line.

To learn more about the event, visit http://omahamarathon.com/

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Expertise:
For close to 4 years, I've worked on client marketing and conversion. I started with building customized marketing plans for clients and assisting in the sales process. Now I have moved into a business development role, where I launch marketing initiatives, determine pricing, and run metrics on our marketing. A huge part of my job is making sure Active's marketing offerings are some of the best in the industry, analyzing metrics, and developing ways to increase open and click rates.

What I like to do in my spare time:
I love to run. I have run countless half-marathons and 11 marathons since I joined Active, including the 2009 Boston marathon, which I am proud to have qualified for. I was side-lined recently with an Achilles injury, so I have taken up swimming instead. I now swim 2,000-4,000 meters, 3 days a week. As a big sports fan, I love attending games, which is tough in San Diego, because I'm a Raiders, A's, and Warriors fan – all Bay Area teams, where I grew up. In addition, I'm working on earning an MBA with a concentration in marketing at a local university.

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