The organisers of The National Running Show Birmingham in partnership with Children with Cancer UK, that will take place on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th January at Birmingham’s NEC, have announced that The Run Café sponsored by Runderwear will be vegan.
The decision to make the show’s central café vegan falls in line with its sustainability policy, which aims to offset the environmental impact of the event at every stage of the production line. Offering visitors to the show a choice of vegan food is both a positive step for the planet and a recognition that some runners are now choosing plant-based meals for a variety of reasons.
The vegan menu at The Run Café sponsored by Runderwear draws from Greek and Lebanese cuisine, with examples including a Dixie Burger, Boxed Greek Salad, Lebanese Meze, Sandwiches and Falafel Wrap. Complementing the menu will be a full coffee range using a mix of soya, almond and coconut milks, plus vegan cakes and slices.
In addition to The Run Café, there will be other food choices available at the in-house catering outlets offering non-vegan food, so that all dietary preferences are catered for.
As sponsor of The Run Café, Runderwear will be providing visitor bags for the show and these will be 100% biodegradable.
Mike Seaman, CEO of Raccoon Events, commented: “We are proud to be offering a vegan menu at The Run Café sponsored by Runderwear at The National Running Show Birmingham. We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of the show and as part of this we want to raise awareness of the impact of our dietary choices. There are also a number of health benefits to adopting a vegan diet when it is well planned. Everyone is free to make their own choices and we will still be offering plenty of other non-vegan food options at the show. I hope that this news will be well received by the running community, and I welcome people’s thoughts on this issue. We are also proud to have implemented a number of other measures as part of our continued sustainability drive and to be working with partners who support these efforts, such as a kit drop for old kit to be recycled and the manufacture of t-shirts from recycled plastic bottles.”
Richard Edmonds, CEO and co-founder of Runderwear, added: “We are delighted to be sponsoring The Run Café at The National Running Show and hope that the delicious menu will appeal to both vegans and non-vegans. As part of our drive to limit our environmental impact, we are also proud to be supplying biodegradable visitor bags for the show, which runners can re-use in the future. We are also excited to be bringing our range of chafe-free, performance underwear and base layers to keep runners comfortable as they work towards their goals.”
Other decisions made to enhance the show’s sustainability include partnering with ReRun, a non-profit business that re-purposes running clothes. With the aim of prolonging the life of running clothes and equipment, as well as raising awareness about textile waste and over consumption, ReRun will have a drop-off point at The National Running Show Birminghamwhere runners can drop off their old running kit to be recycled.
A further partnership with Scimitar, the official clothing partner for The National Running Show Birmingham, will see all the technical running shirts for the team and show ambassadors made from recycled bottles. With each t-shirt made from up to seven recycled plastic bottles, the tops contain the same wicking capabilities as standard sportswear but play an important part in keeping post-consumer waste away from our ecosystems and oceans.
Another sustainability measure in place at The National Running Show include encouraging visitors and exhibitors to use the Travel Carbon Calculator to offset the carbon impact of their travel to the show, as the team at The National Running Show will be doing. The show guide will also be printed on recycled paper, exhibitors are encouraged to use reusable fabric graphics and the NEC itself has an extensive list of venue initiatives, such as being a zero to landfill venue and ensuring that waste and recycling does not travel more than 30 miles from site.
Author: Molly Hookings
Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com
