US Trail Running Conference Expected to Have Groundbreaking Certification

The sixth annual US Trail Running Conference, held in partnership with the American Trail Running Association, and Race SLO, is slated for August 29-31, 2018, at the Dairy Creek Golf Club. Presented by the City of San Luis Obispo, CA, and Race Roster, the Conference weekend rounds out with the SLO Ultra, with four race distances over trails in San Luis Obispo, including the RRCA State trail marathon championships.

The US Trail Running Conference is seeking to be the first sport related Conference to be awarded a certification from the Council for Responsible Sport for the 2018 event. The industry leading Conference connects and empowers race directors, trail runners, and trade leaders, and works to share best practices with the trail running community.

Board member and former Council executive director Keith Peters has worked with US Trail Running Conference organizers the past two years to help quantify numerous efforts to implement more responsible event production practices, and looks forward to the Conference’s pursuit of Council certification this year. “The 2018 US Trail Running Conference is on track to become the first sport-related conference to achieve certification from the Council for Responsible Sport,” said Peters. “By doing so, the Conference truly steps into a leadership position in the trail running world, with the potential to influence event production practices of hundreds of trail events.”

The path to event certification with the Council for Responsible Sport has been made possible by a sponsorship provided by Ragnar. Steven Aderholt, Senior VP of Operations for Ragnar Events, comments,“Ragnar is grateful for the partnership with the US Trail Running Conference and happy to help ensure the conference minimizes its impact on the earth. We believe it is essential for race directors to organize environmentally and socially responsible events, this partnership is just another way for Ragnar to put our efforts behind this mission.

Event Director for the US Trail Running Conference, Terry Chiplin adds, “I am very excited to finalize the process to gain certification for the 2018 US Trail Running Conference with the Council for Responsible Sport, and am grateful for the partnership with Ragnar that makes this possible. Ragnar has taken a key leadership role in the industry by making their events responsible, having had six of their trail relay events certified by the Council, and it is completely appropriate that their support enables the Conference to also fulfill a leadership role in trail running events. We look forward to working with both the Council for Responsible Sport and Ragnar Events in this process, and to encourage responsible trail running for everyone in our sport.”

Registration for the 2018 US Trail Running Conference is open for all trail race directors, trail runners, sponsors, and exhibitors, and includes a discounted entry for any of the SLO Ultra races on September 1, 2018. Visit www.ustrailrunningconference.com for more details.