The annual Crystal Palace triathlon organised by local club Crystal Palace Triathletes (CPT) will be held on Sunday 21st September and on-line entries are now open for what is believed to be the first carbon-neutral event to be held in the UK. It may seem like a long way off, but now is the ideal time to action those New Year’s resolutions and get training.

And, if you need another excuse, by signing up for the race, you can tick off that resolution to ‘become more green’ and be more conscious about how you impact on the environment too! The race is aiming to go carbon-neutral - don't worry carbon bikes are still allowed - in 2008 in a bid to cut emissions produced as a result of the race.

Consultants Zero Carbon Events will be assisting in establishing the carbon footprint for the event and advising CPT on how to make it a carbon-neutral event. The idea came about as a result of discussion by a few members of the club who were concerned about the amount of waste generated on the day. Whilst temporary recycling bins were erected to help deal with the plethora of plastic bottles consumed by athletes and marshals alike, discussions soon moved to wider impacts of the race in terms of the energy needed to run the race and the transport choice of the competitors arriving on the day.

Club Chair John Petrides said, "Whilst in previous years we have focused on putting on a bigger and better race each year, we are keen to ensure that we do not do this at the detriment of the environment. The club feels strongly about the impact our triathlon has on both the local and global environment and we feel that this is our way of making a small but worthwhile contribution".

As a result, the Club are now keen to ensure that the 2008 race is organised both in the run-up (and on the day) in the most energy-efficient manner possible. Whilst CPT is committed to reducing the amount of waste generated and energy consumed it is likely that some carbon will need to be off-set. This will be done on the advice of our consultants and club members will get to vote on which carbon offset projects will benefit. These will be from Gold Standard/ Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) Projects.

For more information and to enter online go to: http: www.crystalpalace-tri.co.uk