Fifteen thousand runners are waiting for next year to 14 Ultrabalatonon
Next year, there will be 15,000 participants in the 14th NN Ultrabalaton mass sports event around Balaton, where the 221 kilometer distance can be completed individually or in relays, running or cycling.
At the event's press conference on Thursday, competition director Miklós Zelcsényi announced that after the 13,000 participants "produced" 5.2 tons of garbage after the Ultrabalaton organized in May this year, they decided to organize a green event in 2020.
"On the first day of our pasta party, which has become traditional, we will only give the guests recycled or paper cutlery and plates, from now on we will not put leaflets in the start packs, and we will not produce a printed program booklet, but all information will be available online for the participants, and the development on our mobile phone application" said Miklós Zelcsényi. He added that they would like to reduce last year's amount of garbage by at least half, but rather by a third.
The race director emphasized that the Ultrabalaton will be the first green-minded, environmentally conscious event among the major European running races. He also presented the recyclable, so-called trail cup, which will replace the previous plastic cups at the 2020 event. He pointed out that the plastic bottles accumulated at the refreshment points will be selectively collected and handed over to become recyclable material.
"Our goal with these measures is to leave as small an ecological footprint as possible," he added.
Péter Sárfalvi, Emmi's deputy state secretary responsible for sports facilities and sports relations, emphasized that such and similar sports events are very necessary because it is important to get as many people as possible to exercise regularly.
"Before 2010, the proportion of regular sportsmen in Hungary was 5 percent, today it has risen to 12-14 percent, but the long-term goal is to raise it to 20 percent," declared the deputy state secretary.
Imre Sztanó, the CEO of the eponymous sponsor NN Biztosító, reported that the company supports 60 running races worldwide, but even among them Ultrabalat occupies a special place, the essence of which can only be truly understood when someone starts on it.
It was said at the press conference that in 2007 there were only 200 entrants to the Ultrabalaton, and while in 2016 the event was sold out in 54 days, last year the entrants completed the entry list in just 22 minutes.
The 2020 Ultrabalathon will be held from May 14 to 17. The field of the 221-kilometer long-distance competition will start from Balatonfüred and return there after going around Lake Balaton. Information about the event can be viewed on the ultrabalaton.hu website.
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