Why Carbon Offsetting Isn’t Enough — Inside the Shift to Insetting in Major Sports Events

Kamal Datta: Hey everyone, welcome back to What Runs the Run podcast and a special episode on sustainability in 26.2. Usually we talk about the what runs the race, we talk about the fuel, the gears, or the logistics. But today, we're going to talk about what keeps the race and the planet running for the next 100 years. My guest today is Ali Crisolo. She is the Director of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at New York Roadrunners. She is a former D1 swimmer, a Bard MBA, and a person responsible for making the world's largest marathon at net zero leader. Ali, welcome to the pod.

Aly Criscuolo: Thank you so much, Kamal. Really happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

Kamal Datta: Great, so let's start with your little bit of a background. You are a competitive swimmer. Does that athletic brain help you when you are trying to tackle something as massive as decarbonizing a 50,000 person plus race?

Aly Criscuolo: Yes, 100%. Being a swimmer or an endurance athlete, there's many hours you put in to training and You want to do everything right leading up to that big race day to make sure you have the best results as possible. And it's the same thing when, you know, working on sustainability goals and targets over a long period of time. You want to do everything you can, you want to prioritize in order to make sure you have the best impact you can and most environmental reduction efforts possible. And I think the, most kind of relevant issue is the fact that you're working for a long period of time. You're swimming hours, you're swimming double practices a day in order to prep for the one race potentially could be 50 seconds long. And kind of the same thing with the sustainability journey at New York Roadowners. We're working long hours, prepping for days and months and years to get to 2040 and net zero by then. And so it's really just

Kamal Datta: Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm.

Aly Criscuolo: just keeping ⁓ motivated and keeping your eye on the prize and understanding that it's all worth it in the end.

Kamal Datta: Cool. Do you want to walk us back a little bit? How did you get into sustainability? I see that you have an extensive background leading sustainability, priority road runner as well, if you want to give us some kind of glimpse to it.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, so I always tell this story about I was sitting in my sixth grade science class and we watched a documentary on climate change that completely terrified me, but motivated me to want to do something about it. then that kind of combined with ⁓ the kind of noticing as a swimmer, the waste and the bathing suits we go through, the caps, the goggles, the travel. ⁓ kind of led me to the sustainability path. So I kind of always focused on sustainability in school when I had the opportunity to choose classes, started my career in the energy and environment space, ended up getting my MBA in sustainability, like you mentioned, which really helped me to kind of lead sustainability at New York Ground Runners.

Kamal Datta: That's great to know. Maybe you can dig little bit now into different ⁓ initiatives that you're leading at New York Roadrunner, specifically on in the sustainability front. I'm sure you're leading and we'll go deep dive some of the ideas for sure. Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, so. ⁓ just to take a quick step back because a lot of people I didn't even know before working at Roadrunners that we put on more than a TCS New York City Marathon. We have events almost every single weekend throughout the year. We have 60 adult and youth events throughout the year. We're a large nonprofit that serves New York City community as well as schools across the country. So there's a lot of environmental footprint that comes with that. At New York Growners, our vision is to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running, which also means doing its part to ensure that future generations have access to clean air, green spaces, and a healthier world than what's to run. ⁓ this just means ⁓ we have a large environmental footprint that we want to take care of so that future generations can enjoy the races and programming that we currently provide today. So my job is basically to develop and implement the sustainability strategy for the organization. We made a formal commitment to sustainability in 2019 when I came on and kind of just started tackling the large footprint. so we have, like I mentioned, all these races, we have three facilities, we have a ⁓ headquarters office, a warehouse in the Bronx, as well as a run center that's open to the public with a lot of different programming, close to our offices while in Manhattan. And so of course, those have a footprint. ⁓ And we are just working to make sure that the footprint of these events

Kamal Datta: Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: and our facilities is reduced over time. And so, you know, it's a big thing to tackle, but we go into it very strategically and kind of kick that off in 2019 and have been making progress since then. And we're on this path to aspire to net zero by 2040.

Kamal Datta: That's cool. I believe, based on at least what I see in available ⁓ in public information, that you are the first hire by New York Roadrunners as a ⁓ full-time hire for sustainability, friend. Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, and the reason why the New Yorker winners talks about that is it's just showing that formal commitment to sustainability. ⁓ A lot of times at smaller races or ⁓ endurance organizations, ⁓ they don't have the opportunity to hire a full time resource in this area. So I just feel fortunate that New Yorker winners has this position and has made that commitment to ⁓ sustainability.

Kamal Datta: Yeah. Yeah, you talked about a couple of, know, not more than New York Road marathon. There are so many events happen because I did the nine plus one.

Aly Criscuolo: Mmm. Nice.

Kamal Datta: in 2024 to run the last year's marathon. not all of the 60 that you mentioned, but some of the nine of the races I did run. Yeah, yeah, it is a New York Road Initiative does an impressive job in terms of organizing those races. And yeah, some of the things you talk about probably I can go back and remind my memory to see what sustainability initiatives that are there in each race, yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Congratulations. ⁓ Yes. Yeah, so you saw some of the things firsthand and maybe some things you didn't even notice behind the scenes and maybe some things you took part in. So that's great. Congratulations.

Kamal Datta: No, thank you. It was fun, though I did not get into the lottery for next year. know a lot of people did not get, so I'm not, I'm okay that it's okay. ⁓

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah, it was the highest demand in the history of our race.

Kamal Datta: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was talking to Ted last year and I told him that it's tougher to get into New York than Harvard. That's kind of the percentage. Yeah. Now you have become a bit of a champion for insetting over offsetting, ⁓ Ali. For the runners listening, if you want to break down what that actually means for the New York City Marathon.

Aly Criscuolo: Yup, yup. ⁓ Yeah, great question. we know that while we're working towards net zero by 2040 and the main goal is to reduce our emissions, we also offset at the same time. So we have a variety of different types of offsets. We have removals and forestry projects. And we always communicate whenever we talk about offsets externally, we communicate that We're not doing that in a vacuum. not just checking a box with the offsets. We're making sure that we are measuring our environmental footprints or full footprint on an annual basis, ongoing basis. We are ⁓ making reduction efforts at the same time and we're communicating this message that we're not just offsetting and checking the box. ⁓ Then we took that one step further in 2025 where we introduced insetting. so ⁓ insetting to us is ⁓ funds that are ⁓ put towards reducing our environmental footprint. So ⁓ a certain portion of the funds that are raised through our New York Road Engineers Team for Climate, which I'm sure we'll get to in a little bit, are put towards insetting, a certain portion towards offsetting. And so the portion that's put towards insetting is almost like an internal budget for our company to spend on ⁓ reduction projects. So that could look like anything from purchasing solar electric generators that are used at our events to ⁓ energy-efficient, energy star refrigerators at our headquarters office. ⁓ Fun little fact about the refrigerators, we are able to donate the old ones to ⁓ a school that uses our youth programming in the Bronx, which also ties into our environmental justice goals as that area is the area of most need ⁓ according to our environmental justice analysis with our sustainability consultants. ⁓ Fun fact there, we are able to chuck a lot of boxes.

Kamal Datta: Not bad, thank you. Yeah, thank you for sharing. ⁓ Insetting versus offsetting. I know you mentioned a lot of pros and cons in either side. ⁓ Is insetting primarily greening your own supply chain versus buying a get out of the carbon? jail free card? How do you visualize or do you kind of prioritize one versus the other?

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, like in setting versus offsetting you mean? Yeah, so, you know, we took a lot of time to think about and, you know, speak to a lot of peers and experts in the field ⁓ about how we wanted to best go about this. It's also constantly evolving as well. So we're constantly thinking about ⁓ how to evolve this practice at New York Roadrunners and are we doing the best thing we can? And so as of right now, you know, we really do think it makes sense to offsetting

Kamal Datta: Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: at via removals and forestry projects ⁓ while we still have a footprint that's existing, right? ⁓ But at the same time, know, offsetting ⁓ is not an end all be all solution for sure. We want to make sure that we are doing the most impactful ⁓ thing, which is really making those reduction efforts. So ⁓ that could be anything from the energy that we use at our office to

Kamal Datta: Mm-hmm.

Aly Criscuolo: the energy at the TCS New York City Marathon. It could even be, you know, a youth event or a volunteer event. So all of those things come with a footprint, especially travel, ⁓ you know, the number one ⁓ footprint for us. And so ⁓ in setting funds ⁓ that can go towards these kinds of things that usually come with an expense, not always, but ⁓ there are many things that we can purchase.

Kamal Datta: Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: in order to help reduce that footprint ⁓ are really helpful. So ⁓ far we've had the opportunity to make some purchases from our 2025 and setting funds and ⁓ look forward to continue to growing this ⁓ practice over the years and seeing how that can help us accelerate our net zero goals.

Kamal Datta: Hmm, that's great. ⁓ For in-setting, ⁓ I know there are organizations that you can, we mentioned that, know, funds that can ⁓ direct or invest towards in-setting. Is there a framework that they're using? Cause I was talking to Brian McCullough, I think I don't know if my episodes prior, I learned quite a bit about scope one, two and three. And you mentioned a little bit of a travel, which is the scope three. And I think a couple of the things you mentioned looks like a scope one and two, which is primarily, you know, the organization itself, the offices that you're trying to offset, but.

Aly Criscuolo: Yes. Yep, yep. Yeah.

Kamal Datta: Scope will be pretty ⁓ massive given so many people want to be part of the New York City Marathon, especially the big one and the small one too. Is there a kind of framework you're using to choose ⁓ for offsetting to choose where I should direct my investment?

Aly Criscuolo: Yes, for insetting. So great question. And yeah, I know Kate Chapman, a good friend and colleague mentioned on your podcast that the London Marathon has, I think you said 92 % of their footprint is the travel. Same with us. It's over 90 % of our environmental footprint is people traveling from all over the world to New York City for the TCS New York City Marathon, world's largest marathon and most international. that's definitely something that we need to tackle. And when it comes to insetting, this is also constantly evolving as we figure out best practices. 2025 is our first year. And so yes, we do have sustainability criteria in terms of what these funds need to go towards. And it is a collaborative effort with our finance team, our procurement team, our warehouse team. as we figure out not only what is needed. So right now we need a new electric vehicle at our warehouse, for example. ⁓ And so it needs to check all the boxes. Is that the best ⁓ option from a sustainability standpoint? Is that something that is a need and need of the organization? Is that something that fits the budget? Of course, we don't want to spend all of the whole entire budget on one item. So ⁓ we have kind of collaborative effort, but then also it comes down to sustainability team and whether these things are ⁓ fit for insetting funds or not.

Kamal Datta: I lost your audio for a second, Ali. Are you able to hear me? ⁓ you're back now. Okay. Cool. So let's talk about the visible stuff a little bit. The cups. I have seen the stats. 140,000 pounds of compostable cups. How does it actually work without it just becoming a mountain of trash? And I experienced it when I ran last year's ⁓ 2025 New York City Marathon as well.

Aly Criscuolo: ⁓ yeah, yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah, so great question. Whenever I explain what I do to a new person, the number one question is always, so like, what do do with the cups? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's a big part of the job and ⁓ what we work on. So prior to me joining New York Roadowners, the cups were all recycled. And this is, you know, thousands and thousands of cups at each event. Like I mentioned, we have 60 events throughout the year. They all have cups. ⁓ They pile up.

Kamal Datta: Yeah, yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: like you mentioned. for what it looks like on a race day is ⁓ we've now switched to compostable cups. And so these compostable cups are provided to runners. They take either their water or Gatorade. They drink, they drop on the floor or hopefully in the bin where we've created new signage, know, so the cups make it into the bin, which just makes the process more efficient and more likely that those cups get composted. And then we work with our city agencies and partners and vendors ⁓ to make sure that those end up at the farm. So we work with the Department of Sanitation of New York. We work with ⁓ Royal Waste specifically on the Cups. So Royal Waste trucks come and sweep the course, we call it, and so they come and pick up all of those cups. ⁓ They are then driven to Mackinroe Farms, which is a local upstate New York compost facility that is organic, and they're very strict in what they accept and don't accept. So if we ever want to switch a cup, ⁓ ⁓ the material or vendor, go through a rigorous testing process where the cup is actually, goes through their composting farm and make sure that it's accepted and then it's turned into soil that's used different places. So yeah, we're really happy with that process. And even though visually it looks like there's tons of waste, it's actually being turned into soil in the end. So ⁓ that's great. I will say we did introduce the past couple of years reusable cups, which is super exciting, something that we've been wanting to do for a long time. We tested it. in 2024 and then we were able to do it in I think around 10 events in 2025. And so we work with a company called Cup Zero and they bring cups to, so far it's been mostly our finish lines and runners will drink from the cup drops so it actually doesn't make any difference in the operation to the runner. It's just the same as they would normally expect.

Kamal Datta: Okay.

Aly Criscuolo: and goes in the bin and then Cup Zero takes them away, washes them and brings them to the next event. ⁓ So it saved thousands and thousands of cups, saved in emissions and creating those cups, recycling those cups, composting those cups. So ⁓ we're really happy with the operation and looking forward to continuing to expand that. And the cool thing is I have run ⁓ undercover a couple of events just to see what runners are saying about these cups because they're very opinionated, of course, they want

Kamal Datta: Yeah. ⁓

Aly Criscuolo: quality and ⁓ they want the best out of their event. And I have heard a lot of positive feedback, like, ⁓ it's so cool that New York Runners is committing to the environment and ⁓ they think the Cups are cool from what I've heard. So that's been great.

Kamal Datta: Yeah, unless I'm aware of it, like now I know about it. So now I'm in the finish line, probably I'll see, know, is it a reusable cup or not. But if people are not aware of it, they probably don't even know that if I throw that cup, what's happening to the cup. Yeah, you're right. What about the new Collegan partnership ⁓ alley? I heard that you are trying to kill the single-use plastic bottles for sure. Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, that's also something we're really excited about. ⁓ This is just the beginning with Coligan. You know, we're excited to see what can come out of the partnership. ⁓ They are really aligned in terms of our sustainability goals and their sustainability goals. So it's going to be really exciting to see what we can do together. Right now, they provide aluminum bottles instead of previously, you know, plastic bottles in the finisher ⁓ shoe at the end of the race. so ⁓ these aluminum bottles, aluminum, for those of you who don't know, is infinitely recyclable. So ⁓ right there, that's great. But we're really working around key messaging of this bottle. You can take it with you just like you would a reusable bottle and use it as many times as you'd like. ⁓ You can wash it, you can drink from it and take it as a souvenir almost and continue to use it. So that's what we're trying to message around ⁓ reuse is going to be really important. ⁓ And it's not only on our finish lines, but also at things like expos and other events we hold as well staff ⁓ use Culligan. yeah, and then yeah, we're just looking forward to seeing what can come of the partnership. But ⁓ right now we're really focusing on reusing your models please as much as possible after the event.

Kamal Datta: Yeah, I see, I see. Let's switch gear a little bit about the sustainable runners and their psychology. You have experimented with opting out. I know New York City Marathon is one of the biggest races and I'm curious about the dust runners actually choose a tree over a shirt.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, ⁓ you know, runners have the opportunity to opt out of the shirt. They don't have to take the shirt. They are made from 100 % recycled polyester with our partner New Balance, which is great. But, ⁓ you know, as you've chatted about on your other episodes of the series, you know, not... Some people like you ran nine events plus and they maybe get getting too many race t-shirts in their closet. So ⁓ Some people, you know don't care to take another shirt ⁓ so that is a great option for the general public but

Kamal Datta: Yeah, yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Just to switch over to New York Runners Team for Climate for a moment, we can expand upon that, but High Level New York Runners Team for Climate was launched in 2024 as a way to help us reach our sustainability goals and get runners involved in the process. And it's been so much fun launching this new program. We launched at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon with 200 runners, fundraising for the environment. And so the funds like Like I mentioned before, it goes towards offsetting and insetting. And these runners are not only ⁓ registering or getting into the application process because of their passion and commitment to sustainability, but then they're also committing to sustainable practices throughout training and race day and beyond. so a part of that is ⁓ they have that option to opt out of the race shirt. They opt out of baggage for the TCS New York City Marathon.

Kamal Datta: Mm-hmm.

Aly Criscuolo: check. And so ⁓ that's a key part of it as well. ⁓ But yes, there's there's different opportunities within you know, our races to opt out of medals, shirts, things like that as well.

Kamal Datta: And how does the marketing team takes or take this messaging? I'm curious. Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, so, ⁓ you know, there is. It's of course a huge part of the race and getting that medal and the finish line and the shirt and a lot of ⁓ different key players are involved, stakeholders, vendors, partners. ⁓ But over time, the industry has moved towards understanding the importance of sustainability and the fact that we want to at least provide those who want to have that opportunity the opportunity to opt out. ⁓ I think this is just one small step into what can come over the next few years. ⁓ And I think starting with sustainable materials is great and opt out programs is great, but there's so much left that can be done in the future coming years ⁓ without sacrificing the quality for the runners and that experience of getting their medal at the finish line and things like that.

Kamal Datta: Have you seen, I don't know if you have the data you're able to share, anyone actually opted out from METAL?

Aly Criscuolo: ⁓ yeah, we don't unfortunately have that. ⁓ We, yeah, it's more of an informal ⁓ process right now. ⁓ But yeah, but it's definitely something that's growing just from seeing the numbers of folks interested and also something that's really prevalent in like the trail running industry where ⁓ they're not, you know, they may get a medal that is like a belt or something like a wooden medal or something like that. And I see some

Kamal Datta: I see, I see. Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: trends from trail running like coming over to road running a little bit and people becoming more aware of sustainability. ⁓ So yeah, we'll see what's to come but there's definitely a trend of people wanting less medals. ⁓ I will say ⁓ coming out of the pandemic with a lot of new runners coming into the industry, they definitely want that first experience in their shirt and their medal. But as they continue to do more and more races, the novelty kind of wears off and maybe they want the experience, they want the photo, they want the videos, things like that, as opposed to the tangible materials.

Kamal Datta: Yeah. Yeah, especially I know people who running multiple times New York City Marathon, right? like I ran my New York City Marathon first time and the medal was a piece of art and I see all the videos kinda you see the whole terrain and you print it on the medal. So I don't know if I'll opt it out, but if I ran New York City Marathon, maybe say five times, six times or beyond, so I don't know. Then maybe time went and said, hey, yeah, I will opt it out for something else, right? Yeah. Cool.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah.

Kamal Datta: Let's talk about the future and a little bit of plogging. And I think we have to talk about it. So for someone who has never heard the term plog, if I'm to give a 30 second or a minute, what is it? Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, it's so much fun. is. ⁓ the combination of the words plaka up which is a Swedish term for to pick up and the English word jogging so plogging ⁓ and ⁓ it basically means to pick up trash while jogging. ⁓ We also include walking ⁓ in different pieces and things like that at New York Roadrunner events but it's basically getting out in your local community by yourself with friends and picking up trash while jogging.

Kamal Datta: I see. And is it an organized event at New York City Marathon or any other NOI RR events?

Aly Criscuolo: Yes, so we have ⁓ three currently around three events for the public each year. One before the TCS New York City Marathon, one before the United Airlines NYC half, which is next weekend, and then one before the RBC Brooklyn half ⁓ in May. And so if anyone is in the area or running the race, we'd love to have you come to our blogging event next Saturday ⁓ at noon at the run center. But ⁓ we also do once for staff around Earth. day and then just encourage folks to get out and plug on their own time as well. But we have three organized events and we usually have some special guests come out. We provide all of the materials, the compostable bags and gloves. And we even have coaches that come out with us and talk about the benefits of plugging, whether using it as a shakeout for the race or whether using it for a workout and you're using different muscles. when you're bending down to pick up trash, are you squatting? Are you lunging? Are you strengthening those legs? ⁓ And things like that. So yeah, they're really fun and it's a great way for community building as well.

Kamal Datta: For the New York City marathon itself and someone listening who may be running the next or 2026 New York City marathon, when is the plogging event? the day before the race or the day after the race? Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: Usually, yeah, usually a day or two before. to so that folks can use it as a shakeout. ⁓ In this past marathon, we actually had a special guest in Fiona O'Keefe who ⁓ actually went on to break the American course record the next day. ⁓ So really fortunate to have her ⁓ join us and she's really passionate about sustainability, studied Earth systems in college. And so ⁓ yeah, we love to have either pro runners or special guests come out with us as well. So stay tuned for this year.

Kamal Datta: Thank you. Now, if I'm to switch again a little bit, people who actually put races together based on all the initiatives that you shared, if there is a race director listening today, what is maybe one change or some of the key changes they can do for the next race tomorrow?

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, I think two things. One is kind of more of a strategy item. Even, you know, whether you're a local 5K that has, you know, 50 runners or the TCS New York City Marathon, I think it is important to take a breath and just ⁓ figure out what is most important to that race or that organization. ⁓ I think doing something that is really authentic to you as a race and organization is what can be most impactful. ⁓ So at a big scale with the New York runners, like when we looked into carbon offsets, we made sure that they were ⁓ based in the Northeast, New York, in forestry because that affects the air we breathe. And so really authentic to us as an organization. our carbon offsets could ⁓ be in the ocean space, or we could be looking into projects in other countries, doing something that's really authentic that runners can understand and have a tie to, I think is really important. ⁓ So if you're a smaller race or a local 5K, things like that, ⁓ looking to ⁓ your location and what makes sense for you all. ⁓ On a more practical sense, think giving runners the opportunity to opt out at registration, maybe ⁓ giving them an opportunity to say you know I don't want the shirt, I don't want the post-race bag with all the ⁓ you know little giveaways and things like that ⁓ so that they can account for how many people do want that and ⁓ you know have those those order points for race day. ⁓ But the amount of materials that could be saved just by opting out I think ⁓ could be huge.

Kamal Datta: ⁓ That's great tips for sure. People who are trying to figure out or navigate in this space without a significant budget that New York Roadrunners may have. think, thank you for sharing those. Ali, is there any other initiatives from New York Roadrunners that you did not touch on that probably you should chat before I move to the next section?

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, I mean, ⁓ there's a lot of things that we do throughout the year. ⁓ whether it's donating clothing from the start line to all of us clothing that helps New Yorkers in need, to donating surplus leftover food, our solar electric generators, which I touched upon are really cool to see at events and making sure that air quality isn't affected by the energy use at our events. Our metals are made from 100 % recycled steel and the ribbon is recycled PET. Something cool that So just a couple things from New York runners Team for Climate. We, like I mentioned, you know, there were about 200 runners for that first marathon and we've built upon that. So we now have Team for Climate at the United Airlines NYC half and RBC Brook on half. If you're interested in Team for Climate at the 2026 DCS New York City Marathon, registration will be happening. The application process will be happening Earth month in April. But yeah, it's just really exciting to see what has happened with this program and how it's gonna grow. ⁓ The runners have access to webinars where we give them ⁓ some tips and tricks on sustainable ⁓ training and race day experiences, keeping your gels and like gel wrappers and recycling them, all the little things that you can do to ensure ⁓ you're being as sustainable as possible. The plant-based meals. air drying your clothing, all those kind of things. ⁓ And then something that's really fun though, part of Team for Climate is that we've created these singlets, the running tank tops that ⁓ depict the climate stripes. So this is something ⁓ that comes out of the University of Reading in the UK and ⁓ You may have to have a picture in the show notes or something of ⁓ the singlet, but it depicts the heating of the planet over time. So the cooler years are blue at the bottom of the shirt, and then it goes all the way up to red and it shows you really, it's a very stark image of the heating of the planet over time. And ⁓ so the runners wear this as a symbol of climate change so that we're building awareness. yeah, like runners really ⁓ like the look of it. They're like, ⁓ where can I buy that shirt?

Kamal Datta: Wow. ⁓ nice.

Aly Criscuolo: they think it's a cool design and then you explain what it really means and ⁓ wow that's really cool. ⁓ So that's kind of a really great part of Team for Climate that ⁓

Kamal Datta: Yeah.

Aly Criscuolo: other sports organizations around the world have taken to using climate stripes as well. know London Marathon had it on their course ⁓ on the ground and you know some soccer teams were around their arm as a band so ⁓ yeah that's a really fun part of Team for Climate that I like to talk about.

Kamal Datta: No, that's that's fun. Thank you for sharing, Ali. Now let's move to the rapid fire round. A couple of quick questions I'll throw at you and you just respond what comes to your mind first. first one, biodegradable paper cups or reusable silicon cups at water stations?

Aly Criscuolo: Perfect. who raise well silicone cups.

Kamal Datta: right? The swag dilemma, the high tech finisher shirt or a tree planted in a runner's name.

Aly Criscuolo: Ooh, tree planted in a runner's name, yep. ⁓

Kamal Datta: On the transport side, a Staten Island ferry or a fleet of electric buses.

Aly Criscuolo: Staten Island Ferry, is actually what our Team for Climate runners take to the start. And they all get to sit together, have community, and it's a sustainable option.

Kamal Datta: I took the bus so I'll probably bias that way. If it's electric. All right, plugging gear. Globes and a trash bag or just picking up one piece of flitter on every run.

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah. in a trash bag I'm definitely ⁓ yeah I you know I like to get all the trash so I want to be protected.

Kamal Datta: Post-fresh fuel, local organic NYC apples, or imported energy bars.

Aly Criscuolo: Ooh, these are great ones. Of course, the local organic apples.

Kamal Datta: I should have guessed that. The aha moment. What was one piece of data that shocked you most when you first audited New York Roadrunner's footprint?

Aly Criscuolo: ⁓ wow, well I thought that... I knew that the runners all coming to New York City for the marathon would be our biggest footprint. I wasn't expecting over 90%. I thought maybe 75, 80%, but I wasn't expecting over 90%. So that was ⁓ pretty shocking. And then I also think the amount of clothing that ⁓ we donate is ⁓ pretty impressive. It totally depends on the weather on race day. So for example, the United Airlines NYC half last year we donated eight tons of clothing for runners at the start but in a prior year where it was really warm it was only a hundred pounds so it really fluctuates depending on the weather which is really interesting.

Kamal Datta: I saw the sign ⁓ not to drop any clothing or stuff on the Verrazano Bridge, like it's all over in the Stark Village. I saw that was good reminder, because it's a lot of effort to actually get it out when it's pretty much closed down the whole thing, right? ⁓ Future tech, solar powered start line tents or hydrogen powered lead vehicles?

Aly Criscuolo: Yes. Yeah, exactly. Ooh, well, I'm gonna go with solar powered start temp because we actually have that for Team for Climate. Yeah, it's the Team for Climate tent at the start is powered by our solar electric generators.

Kamal Datta: Interesting. Yeah, I probably did not notice, but yeah, that's good to know that they have a solar power there. Net zero journey. Is 2040 for net zero goal too late or is it the most aggressive realistic goal in major sports?

Aly Criscuolo: Yeah, yeah. This is a heavy, heavy topic, heavy question, but great question. Something that sports sustainability professionals are talking about every day amongst each other. I think ⁓ on one hand, ⁓ we need to be net zero today, of course. That would be ideal, not only for ⁓ meeting the goals and targets and the Paris Agreement, ⁓ but also just for human health, Like ⁓ emissions and air quality and being able to have good air quality on race days. ⁓ At the same time, it's very challenging, especially ⁓ that key challenge of air travel. ⁓ And that's one of those things that while we can influence it and we can work with partners and we can educate runners and communicate and how to reduce their travel footprint, it's also something that we don't have 100 % direct control over. So something that we also just need to do what we can to help that part of it come along. So yeah, in an ideal world, I'd say it's

Kamal Datta: I see.

Aly Criscuolo: late and we should be, we all should be at Nazira today, but ⁓ realistically it's something that ⁓ I think for many organizations is going to be even hard to get to by 2040 and ⁓ is something to, that's why we say, you know, aspire to. ⁓ It's a big goal that we're doing everything we can to meet that goal by 2040.

Kamal Datta: next video. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, it's a very tricky one too. last question on the finish line, getting to the finish line. If you could describe the future of sustainable racing in one word, what that would be.

Aly Criscuolo: That's a good one. I would say healthy. Healthy because air quality would be ⁓ in a healthy level and runners would have the opportunity to stay healthy. ⁓

Kamal Datta: That's great. Well, Ali, thank you so much for sharing your background, especially all the amazing things you doing at New York Roadrunners. And I hope some of the listeners take away what they can do as a runner or if an organizer. Some tips are there for people to leverage on. Whether it's a big race, small race, or a big race, or an in-between somewhere, there's some nuggets that you shared that people can take away. So thank you so much.

Aly Criscuolo: Thank you so much, Kamal, I really appreciate it.

Kamal Datta: Thank