Amica Newport Marathon (Credit: Clancy Creative/Amica Newport Marathon)

Good morning, Newport! 👋 Today is Tuesday, Sept. 2, the 245th day of 2025. There are 120 days left in the year.

🚨 You need to know

The Amica Newport Marathon is expanding its environmental initiatives for the second consecutive year through a continued partnership with 11th Hour Racing as the event’s official sustainability partner.

The 16th annual marathon, scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 12, will implement comprehensive green practices designed to minimize the race’s environmental footprint while protecting Newport’s iconic coastline. The event, produced by Gray Matter Marketing, attracts thousands of runners and spectators to Newport and Middletown each October.

“Supporting the Amica Newport Marathon means showing that simple, real-world solutions, like composting, reducing single-use waste, and encouraging low-impact transportation, can be part of a major event,” said Lorraine McKenna, sponsorship director at 11th Hour Racing. “This partnership builds on last year’s momentum to keep even more waste out of landfills, protect Newport’s coastline, and engage the community in climate action.”

This year’s sustainability measures include encouraging carpooling, biking and walking to reduce vehicle emissions, with dedicated parking at Second Beach and Aquidneck Corporate Park. Organizers will place marked trash, recycling and compost bins along the course, managed by a volunteer “Green Team.” The event will also feature refill stations for reusable bottles and replace plastic water bottles with aluminum cans from partner Polar Beverages, which are infinitely recyclable compared to less than 10% of plastic bottles.

Race organizers emphasize the importance of protecting the sensitive coastal environment through which the marathon course passes. Participants and spectators must stay on designated paths to preserve the area’s dunes, wetlands and shoreline ecosystems.

“Newport’s coastline is central to the identity of this race, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that our event helps preserve it,” said Matt Gray, president of Gray Matter Marketing. “Partnering with 11th Hour Racing allows us to make meaningful changes that reduce our footprint, while also inspiring our athletes, volunteers, and community to protect the natural beauty that makes our hometown so special.”

In 2024, the partnership successfully diverted close to 50% of the 1.32 tons of waste produced by the event. Organizers aim to divert an even higher percentage of waste from landfills this year. For more information on the marathon’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.newportmarathon.com/sustainability.

Here’s what else you need to know

👏 The Newport Historical Society’s groundbreaking research on Black and Indigenous history has gained a dramatically wider audience through a new partnership with American Ancestors, the digital platform of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

👉 J.T. Commons, the new restaurant set to open this fall in the former Foodlove Market space at 1037 Aquidneck Avenue in Middletown, is now hiring.

🏫 Portsmouth High School was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the best high schools in Rhode Island, and the best in the Newport area.

🚢 Eighteen cruise ships will visit Newport this month, with the Silver Shadow scheduled to kick things off with its arrival tomorrow. Cruise Ship Schedule

✍️ ICYMI: Here are the latest columns from some of our contributors;

📰 The Latest from What’sUpNewp

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📈 Yesterday’s most-read

The following were yesterday’s most-read What’sUpNewp articles.

  1. Borden Farm Estates in Portsmouth hits the market for $2.2M
  2. Portsmouth rated fourth-best high school in RI 
  3. What’s Up this Labor Day weekend in Newport County: Aug. 28 – Sept. 1
  4. Obituary: Thomas Galvin
  5. J.T. Commons now hiring for front and back-of-house positions
  6. Obituary: Margaret Shea
  7. Obituary: Nancy Meikle
  8. Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about RFK, Jr. and nutrition
  9. Historic Westerly venue sells for $4.5M in state’s second-largest commercial deal
  10. Update: More details emerge in Newport assistant attorney general arrest case

📅 What’s Up Today

Weather Forecast

  • Today: Sunny, with a high near 74. North wind 6 to 9 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
  • Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 58. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Marine Forecast

  • Today: NNE wind 5 to 8 kt becoming ESE in the afternoon. Sunny. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • Tonight: Variable winds 5 kt or less. Partly cloudy. Seas 1 ft or less.
  • The coastal water temperature is 68 degrees.

Sun, Moon & Tide

  • Sunrise at 6:12 am. Sunset at 7:16 pm. 13 hours & 3 minutes of sun.
  • High tide at 3:31 am & 4:08 pm. Low tide at 9:16 am & 10:57 pm.
  • The lunar phase is a Waxing Gibbous.

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Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...