TORONTO June 23rd 2015.
Dear fellow runners;
Hello! It’s GREAT to be back chatting to you on a regular basis through this Journal feature. We’re back up and running on a bi-monthly basis now, on the CRS Blog and Newsletter! How are you all? What’s happening out there? ¿Qué tal? How has you Spring season gone?
I must say I’ve had a wonderful, running-filled Spring at home and abroad that has allowed me to connect with so many of you worldwide. I’ve had SO many great visits with running clubs and crews in Vancouver with Fraser Street Run Club and East Van Run Crew, in Toronto with Parkdale Roadrunners, NightTerrors, and Tribe Fitness, and in London, England with Run Dem Crew (pictured above) on a magical evening in Shoreditch that took us over Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge and St.Paul’s by night. In London I had the privilege of visiting with Charlie Dark, the founder, DJ, scribe, and visionary in the running movement, and charismatic leader of Run Dem Crew; plus Steve, Ellie, Peigh (who ran his first marathon), Jules and BitBeefy. We’ll get to run with some of them again this October at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon!
Love the Finish Line message and Dad doing a #runfie!
And now I’m writing this from Mexico City, aka #CDMX where this amazing city of 20+ millionis celebrating Father’s Day with 16,000+ runners at the Carerra del Dia del Padre 21k, a superb sight and experience. The race raises money for the Bosque de Tlapan, an unbelievable 250-hectare oasis of green forest and trails, peace and tranquility in the midst of the teeming masses of one of the world’s largest cities. I’m here to firm up an exchange, a “sister-race” partnership between Los Corredores del Bosque de Tlalpan who organize the race (the #CDP21k), and #STWM. More on that later, but suffice it to say it’s part of our unrelenting commitment to be on the roads with you, connecting, building community worldwide, hearing what is currently exciting you, and continuously developing world-class races in Canada. PLEASE keep connected with me on a regular basis via social media – @alnbrookes and @RunCRS on Twitter and Instagram, plus our CRS and STWM Facebook pages. And as long as you use the hashtags, we can see yours and everyone’s posts on our CRS and STWM Social Hubs. We NEED your input; we can’t do it on our own!
Alan’s Journal is all about giving you the inside scoop, and a behind-the-scenes look at Canada Running Series. So I want to reassure you that I, plus the CRS team, are all REALLY working hard to bring you the best-organized, innovative and exciting running events around. On May 28th we were at the Athletics Canada Race Directors’ Summit at Calgary Marathon weekend, where I gave a presentation on “Community Engagement: Does Your City Love You? Or are you just blocking traffic?” Au courant? Our Event Director Charlotte, on a panel with Mary Wittenberg, gave a terrific presentation on our Volunteer Programme, and Tom from CRS West did us proud talking sustainability, and how and why the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon and STWM are the only 2 events in Canada to earn Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport in Oregon. Building healthy, green communities matters, and together we CAN make a difference! Then we dashed onto Chicago to participate in the Chicago Marathon Race Management Program and trade best practices with Chicago, Boston, Houston, LA, Pittsburgh and more.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a BIG shout out to everyone starting Vancouver Eastside 10k, OASIS ZooRun and STWM Training right now. Join our Canadian stars like Krista DuChene, Matt Loiselle and Sami Jibril on the Start lines. Keep your eyes on our Blogs STWM and CRS for posts from our Digital Champions as well as Paul Gains’ great features on the stars. Let’s do it together!
Rachel Hannah after winning AC National 10k title + CRS14 crown at Oasis ZooRun.
Need inspiration? YOU’RE INVITED to join CRS and the Toronto running community at the PanAm Games Marathons on July 18th & 25th. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come out and cheer on some of our CRS stars who you see at our races on a regular basis. Only now they’re running for Canada, and international stardom, repping OUR country on a world stage! They NEED our CHEERS! Our current CRS Women’s Champion, Rachel Hannah, will be racing along with Natasha LaBeaud on the 18th. Can they beat Peru’s Gladys Tajeda or Mexico’s Vianey De La Rosa? Then it’ll be fan favourites Rob Watson and Kip Kangogo on the 25th who have to take on Peruvian ace Raul Pacheco who was one place ahead of Reid Coolsaet at Rotterdam Marathon this Spring. In between the marathons, make sure you grab some tickets to see Lanni Marchant and Natasha Wodak star in the Women’s 10,000m, Lucas Bruchet in the Men’s 10,000m with Mo Ahmed; plus Cam Levins and Ross Proudfoot and Jess O’Connell in the 5,000m, Alex Genest & Gen Lalonde from Speed River in the 3000m steeple, and a bunch of our other friends on the track at York. See full Team Canada Lists. Go Canada Go! Stay tuned for our upcoming, detailed blog on the Pan Am Marathon! #PanAmazing
VAMENOS amigos y amigas! I gotta run and catch a plane from MEX to YVR for the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon! Reid, Lanni and Natasha are calling my flight. Can’t wait to see all our awesome #RunVan friends soon!
Alan
