‘Legacy Talks’ video profiles 45th year of Vancouver Marathon
Video series looks back at the historic Vancouver International Marathon
Vancouver, BC – March 11, 2016 –
To help commemorate the historic 45th year of Vancouver’s only Marathon, a new ‘Legacy Talks’ video series is being released, interviewing those who have played key roles in helping grow the event from its early beginnings – with 32 runners in the inaugural year of 1972 – to an event that looks to welcome 15,000 – 17,000 runners from over 50 countries in 2016.
The ‘Legacy Talks’ video segments, which incorporate classic images dating back to the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s – takes a walk down memory lane with some of the trial blazers including co-founders Jack Taunton and Don Basham, plus Board member Andrea Eby who was key in the 2012 course re-design, and current Executive Director Charlene Krepiakevich.
“That very first year we only had 32 participants in the event, two of which were women,” says Don Basham, in the first video now published on the event’s website. “Over the course of the seven years that we ran this course in Stanley Park, we were up to well over 700 (runners) when we finally decided to move the event out of the Park.”
“We took the event out of Stanley Park and into the downtown Vancouver core so we could attract international runners. They wanted it to be a truly international event on the streets of Vancouver.”
“One of the (other) reasons we came out of the Park is because it started to get complicated when we got up into the hundreds of runners because we were running a lap course – there were no chips in your shoes at that time. And so every single runner had to have their number recorded manually.. 5 times.”
That first ‘Legacy Talks’ video with Don Basham, the event’s original race director, is now published online through the event’s website bmovanmarathon.ca, and social media channels @bmovanmarathon and @runvancanada.
New videos will continue to be released over the coming months in build up to the event’s 45th year this May.
Organized by the local non-profit Vancouver International Marathon Society, the Vancouver Marathon has grown from that five-lap loop course in Stanley Park, to an expansive race weekend that features races for everyone with beautiful point-to-point courses and a free three-day Health, Sports & Lifestyle Expo.
The Society introduced its Half Marathon in 1989, added an 8KM race and Kids Run in 2013, and re-introduced the Marathon Relay in 2015. 15,000 plus runners from over 50 countries are now anticipated to run in the event’s 45th year on May 1, 2016.
“I didn’t have club to run in, so some of the people I raced with – I talked to them – and six of us started the very first road running club in Canada,” offers Jack Taunton in his video profile. “Then, out of that, we started the Vancouver Marathon.”
Vancouver’s only marathon event is now wholly organized by the Vancouver International Marathon Society – a non-profit organization which was established in 1987 due to the marathon’s growing popularity. The Society relies on a dedicated group of volunteer Board of Directors, a small core team, and over 4,000 invaluable volunteers to help stage the event annually.
See the videos uploaded:
