‘‘Our main goal was to generate awareness for climate change. The fact that our goal is highlighted once again by the sports elections is great.’ Photo Run4Climate Last September, the Run4Climate team was nominated in the Wageningen sports election’s Extraordinary Achievement category for their climate marathon. On Wednesday evening, they were presented with a trophy by Mayor Floor Vermeulen and Alderman for Sports Anne Jansen.
‘Our main goal has always been to generate awareness for climate change’, says Jetse Stoorvogel, associate professor of Soil-Land Use Interactions and one of the team members of Run4Climate on Thursday morning. ‘We managed this leading up to the Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland, but there was also a lot of media attention afterwards. The fact that our goal is highlighted once again by the sports elections is great.’
‘During the sports elections last night, we once again had the opportunity to share our story with a group of Wageningen citizens. We also talked at length with the mayor, who was very interested and keen to buy a shirt with these cool climate stripes.’
Many marathons
‘I run about six marathons per year, and am always up for a challenge, but I have always said I would never run the Jungfrau Marathon’, Stoorvogel says, laughing. ‘The first half of the course is more or less flat, but after that, it is a steep incline all the way, which is more of a brisk walk than a run. But I have no regrets; it was a great experience.’
The team’s runners will continue to join events in their climate-stripe shirts. ‘That frequently sparks a great conversation as well as some extra attention. During the Brabant Marathon, I was running beside a man making a sports podcast. In the podcast on the event, they kept mentioning the “Run4Climate-man”. We are also focusing on the Climate Marathon relay on 21 June of this year, which coincides with the Cycling4Climate cycling event in which colleagues participated last year. We will remain visible.’
Two winners
Both nominees in the Extraordinary Achievement category were awarded a prize this year. In addition to the Run4Climate-team ultra-runner Moussa Kallo of Wageningen’s athletics association, Pallas’67 had been nominated. He completed the Cappadocia Ultra Trail last year.
