Running fans across the globe will once again be able to catch all the action at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon – an IAAF Gold Label Race – next Sunday, October 21.
The event is being live streamed on STWM.ca and on CBCSports.ca, athleticscanada.tv and on Twitter’s Periscope, beginning at 8:15 a.m. EDT. There will be no geo-blocking, meaning you can watch all the action from anywhere in the world.
Make this year’s Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k count with the Scotiabank Charity Challenge.
By Diana Hart
Time for Vancouverites to lace up their sneakers; runners of all ages are taking part in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k on June 24.
At Scotiabank-supported marathons across Canada, people can make their runs count by taking the Scotiabank Charity Challenge and raising money for charities helping strengthen their communities. This year, we are highlighting Scotiabank Charity Challenge participants running for charities that help build a better future for young people in their communities.
Meet Jaylene
Jaylene Prime, 11, is taking the Scotiabank Charity Challenge alongside her sisters. They are raising money for Cassie and Friends Society, a not-for-profit, which supports children with juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, and their families.
Jaylene has a rare form of juvenile arthritis called systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA). With the support of Cassie and Friends Society, Jaylene and her family were successful in their battle to gain accessto an expensive medication to treat her life-threatening illness. She was the first child in B.C. to be granted public coverage to the medication canakinumab.
Jaylene explains why she’s excited to run the Scotiabank Charity Challenge this year.
Link to original story HERE
Jaylene’s story is just one of many. Support Cassie and Friends or another Charity through the Scotiabank Charity Challenge and run for a cause on June 24th.
Already registered to race? You can still fundraise, click HERE to log into your race account.
VANCOUVER. January 30th, 2018. Canada Running Series is delighted to announce the appointment of Ryan Chilibeck, who will join the team as Race Director, CRS West, replacing Clif Cunningham. Ryan’s first day will be tomorrow, January 31st, though Clif will continue full-time until the summer as part of a smooth transition.
“After 17 years, we’re sad to see Clif move on in search of new adventures,” said President Alan Brookes, “but thrilled to have someone with Ryan’s combined running, community and business experience on board to continue to build on the success of the events.”
A lifetime sportsperson, Ryan turned to running in 2010, and got the “race experience” bug when he signed up for Canada Running Series’ Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon in 2014. That was also the year he founded East Van Run Crew:
“Until 2014, I typically ran alone,” he recalls. “Then one of my friends was running with Parkdale Roadrunners in Toronto and I couldn’t stop watching his social media feed to see what was going on. I looked around Vancouver and didn’t see anything that really captured the energy of this new running movement that they were bringing to the streets every week. In the lead up to my 2014 Scotia Half, EVRC was founded over social media, to a lukewarm reception. From there, things have just snowballed into what EVRC is today…a large, dynamic, inviting, open-door, community-building and thirsty group of people who also like to run.
Once this social aspect of running came into my life, it gave me another thing to look forward to every week: a new circle of friends and a creative output that no job could not offer me at the time. We were able to raise money for charities, jump on social media to connect with runners across the globe, host group events in our own city and represent our run crews at races around the world.”
From 2012 to 2016, Ryan also gained invaluable business experience establishing and managing a flourishing Famoso Pizza franchise in East Vancouver that also helped sponsor races and act as a popular location for crew runs, post-run pizza and beer, as well as supporting a wide range of community-based charities. He also coordinated and oversaw the training of new Famoso partners and their management teams, and re-vamped and refreshed the music offerings at 29 Famoso locations across Canada.
Ryan has spent the past year in Edmonton where he launched and managed the Northern Alberta Trail Run Series.
“Bringing a new Race Series to Edmonton was an incredibly rewarding experience. I was able to use my previous racing knowledge to coordinate the entire runner-experience from registration to finish line. There is no better feeling than seeing a lofty vision and months’ worth of planning come to reality. The only downside was that I never got to race in any of them! I’m really looking forward to bringing my personal experiences and talents to the amazing structure that Clif, Tom and the rest of the CRS team has worked hard to create across the country.”
Ryan will be joined on the Canada Running Series West team by Jen Cerullo and Ron Denischuk, two high-energy event professionals, as Event Manager and Operations Manager, respectively. Jen has worked on many Vancouver-area events including prominent roles with lululemon’s Seawheeze, the Rock ‘n Roll Vancouver Half marathon and the First Half Half Marathon, as well as with CRS on the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in a range of volunteer-management, course, venue and “people” areas. Ron has worked with CRS under Tom Skinner for 5 years, as well as on the Sun Run and other major events. A UBC Business graduate, he is eager to step up as Tom moves on to a new challenge with HUB Cycling. Like Clif, though, Tom will be there in the transition to support the Scotia Half and the Under Armour Eastside 10k in race-week roles.
“We’re really excited about 2018, from Vancouver to Toronto and Montreal,” said Brookes. “And we’re looking forward to seeing the running community out in force to give Clif and Tom a royal send-off, and be part of the new energy, excitement and innovation that Ryan and his team will bring. We’re all building this together.”
Canada Running Series [CRS] is the nation’s premier running circuit with 7 events: 4 in Toronto, 2 in Vancouver and 1 in Montreal. It annually attracts some 60,000 participants and raises more than $6 million for some 320 mostly-local charities. The Series includes the IAAF Gold Label Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and the Scotiabank Vancouver Half marathon, the only event in Canada to receive “Inspire Gold” certification from the Council for Responsible Sport in Oregon for its exemplary practice of sustainability. Since 1999, CRS has gained international recognition for innovation and organization. We are passionately committed to staging great experiences for runners of all levels from Canadian Olympians and International stars, to healthy lifestyle people and charity runners; and to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process. Our mission is “building community through the sport of running”.
Since 2003, participants at six Scotiabank-sponsored road races from coast to coast have made every step of their run count, raising more than $50 million for local charities through the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. This turnkey fundraising program surpassed the $50 million mark thanks to continued efforts from races in Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa and Calgary so far this year, and in the lead-up to the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon and 5k this weekend.
The Scotiabank Charity Challenge launched in 2003 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon as a way for runners to fundraise to support local charities. Every dollar raised goes directly to the charities. Scotiabank pays for all transaction fees, credit card fees and the cost of the fundraising platform.
Scotiabank proudly hosts a Scotiabank Charity Challenge at each of six sponsored race events across Canada each year including:
“On behalf of all of my colleagues at Scotiabank, I want to congratulate all participants who have run in the Scotiabank road races since 2003 and made every step count by signing up for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge,” said Kyle McNamara, Executive Vice President and Co-Head Information Technology, Business Systems, and Executive Champion for Marathons at Scotiabank. “We encourage everyone to keep the fundraising going, and to work together to support local charities that have a significant impact on Canadian communities.”
“We launched the Scotiabank Charity Challenge in response to runners who told us that they wanted to make their race more meaningful,” said Jacquie Ryan, Vice President, Sponsorships at Scotiabank. “It has been an honour to witness the commitment and dedication of all participants – both on the course and off – as we have grown this fundraising program together.”
About Scotiabank
Through our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.
Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of $895 billion (as at April 30, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank’s media releases using Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
By Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon Pacer, Christy Baker.
VANCOUVER June 6th 2016. My first half-marathon was the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon in 2003. I had just moved to Vancouver and running was my way to get to know the city and meet new friends. Fast forward to 2016 and I have done this race 5 times and a total of 15 half-marathons, one full marathon and numerous trail races including Seek the Peak! I am happily married with two kids and life is busy, but running not only keeps me fit and healthy, it is my social outing with friends or my husband, hitting our local trails minutes away from my front door.
I know we all lead busy lives and there is a fine line between balance and chaos. I try to keep this balance by running early in the morning, on the weekend, during my work day or after my kids go to bed. I find half-marathon training works with my family life and it is not so demanding that it takes away from every day life and fitness activities.
Training for the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon this year, I have recruited some friends to run the distance with me as I will be the 2-hour Pace Bunny. This will help me practice staying on a consistent pace because I am usually a fast starter and then need to dig deep the last few kilometers to finish! My half-marathon times have improved over the last three years and I am happy with my consistently finishing between 1:45 -1:48. I am looking forward to leading the 2-hour pace group and encouraging others to get a personal best or just finish their first half-marathon. I look forward to seeing you at the start line on Sunday June 26th and if you see me, please say hi! I love to chat when I run so let’s make this an awesome half-marathon!
Register to run the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon with Christy on Sunday June 26th. Sign up here.
“I had never met anyone with cerebral palsy, so when I came here [I was] so surprised, many people [are] like me,” Mehrnoush Izadi admitted over coffee at a café in the United Kingdom building, where the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC’s office is currently situated. Born in Dubai, Mehrnoush immigrated to Canada in 2011 with one of her brothers. It was very hard for Mehrnoush to adjust to her new life in Canada as “everything was so new.” After two years of living with her brother in a basement suite, her parents joined her in 2013. She eventually became accustomed to aspects of Canadian culture, including seeing other people with disabilities in the Lower Mainland, an emphasis on leaving the family home after the age of 18, and the number of dogs and dog parks – this is especially delightful since her family has adopted a dog named Felix.
One day last year Mehrnoush happened to come across website for the Cerebral Palsy Association online when she was searching for volunteering opportunities. She wrote down the address and visited the downtown office. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that Feri, the Association’s executive director, also spoke Farsi. Not only could Mehrnoush comfortably speak with Feri but Feri could also answer Mehrnoush’s parents’ questions and concerns.
Mehrnoush began helping Feri with mailing, accounting, deposits, and petty cash reconciliation. In the fall of 2014, she started the Accounting program at Douglas College. The financial burden of studying was offset by a $500 Tanabe bursary, one of the numerous bursaries the Cerebral Palsy Association makes available to its members over the years. Mehrnoush has become a well-rounded member of the association has participated in the yoga, dance, and the Association’s first ever pre-employment program in addition to volunteering her time to help support a Meat draw fundraiser in Chilliwack, the CPABC’s annual Gala, a Community Connections event on the North Shore, and the Healthy Eating-Healthy Life program, a monthly community kitchen event.
This past year has been an important year for Mehrnoush. The bursary funds and her academic pursuits have helped those around her see what she is capable of. She hopes to develop her accounting skill set more, frequenting the office 3 days a week instead of 1 day a week in the future. Her involvement at the Cerebral Palsy Association has helped her reach and realize both her personal and professional goals.
Last year Mehrnoush raised over $300 and walked the 5km route on behalf of the Cerebral Palsy Association for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. The 2014 challenge was a first for both the CPABC and Mehrnoush – it was the first year the CPABC took part in the event, where all funds raised go directly back to participating charities – and it was the first major mixed abilities fundraiser Mehrnoush and her family had seen. Her family was amazed by the diverse participants and the scale of the event. She is so excited to be a part of the Scotiabank Charity Challenge for a second year in a row. This year, Mehrnoush and her family plan on walking together, “although I think my dad would win if he tried,” she jokes.
Learn more about the Cerebral Palsy Association and the Scotiabank Charity Challenge!
When I did my very first Scotiabank race back in 2009, it was a 5K. It seems that the race wasn’t chip timed, so I have no idea how long it took me to finish. What I can remember – vaguely – is that it was a struggle. It was one of my first races ever. Fast forward to 2016, and I am proud and honoured to be a Scotiabank Half Digital Champion!
And what exactly is that, a Digital Champion? Well, we are a diverse bunch of runners – different ages, who run different speeds, at different stages in our running journey. But what we have in common is our love for the sport, and our enthusiasm for the Scotiabank Half and what it represents and means to us.
You can meet all of the Digital Champions – and Pacers – by dropping by the Canada Running Series West website here. Debra Kato and I especially look forward to representing this event with enthusiasm!
One of the things that makes the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon & 5K a truly special event is the emphasis on fundraising for charity. Every year there are a number of featured charities, plus a list of over 70 charitable partners to fundraise on behalf of. Fundraising can be as much or as little as you want, either as an individual or as part of a team. And while the Scotiabank Charity Challenge is an awesome component of the weekend, it’s not an obligation – but for me it holds great value.
I had intended to sign up for the Scotiabank Half in 2012 – and actually believed I had – but discovered just days before the race that I hadn’t registered. I took it as a sign and gave it a miss.
In 2013, I was on the ball early and signed up in January for the Canada Running Series Combo – the Vancouver Spring Run-Off 8K (now the Modo 8K), the Scotiabank Half, and the Eastside 10K. At that point, the thought of fundraising hadn’t yet entered my mind.
Late in March of 2013, life threw us a curveball. My mom ended up in hospital with a number of medical issues, and we soon learned that she had cancer. It would turn out to be late stage pancreatic cancer, one of the cancers with the lowest survival rates. Because it often goes undetected until it has spread, it is largely incurable. This turned out to be the case for my mom. I headed back to Ontario to spend time with her and my dad, but two weeks later on April 19, she passed away quietly in hospice.
We spent the next couple of weeks putting affairs in order, planning the funeral, saying goodbye. And then it was back to the real world. I felt helpless, a bit lost, angry and exhausted. Then I decided that the only thing I could do was try and do something positive – and that where the Scotiabank Half came into play.
Deciding to fundraise on behalf of the BC Cancer Foundation, I wanted to honour my mom’s memory. I committed to raising money to fight cancer – and to help fund the research that is still desperately needed.
That commitment has continued – in 2014 and 2015 – and I’m doing it again this year. My goal is to raise $3,000 and bring my lifetime fundraising total to over $12,000. You can visit my fundraising page here:
http://donate.bccancerfoundation.com/goto/bjcjapan
So no matter what your motivation – to run your first half marathon, to join a team, to fundraise for a charity that is dear to your heart – the Scotiabank Half & 5K is a race worth running! Want to sign up? Visit the website here.
Mary Alice Cuzen 1934-2013
The Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon and 5k is committed to producing a world-class event that showcases the city and is both socially and environmentally responsible. After a complete analysis by the Council for Responsible Sport, the 2015 event has been awarded a Gold Certification, making it the only event in Canada to do so. By reaching the highest sustainability certification of any event in the country, #ScotiaHalf claims to be Canada’s Greenest Race!
Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport formally recognizes significant achievements through the successful completion of socially and environmentally responsible best practices at sporting events. Standards can be achieved in areas ranging from waste management and climate impact to community involvement, health promotion and more. The only other certified event in Canada is the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (Silver – 2014).
The Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon has a big job that includes integrating sustainability into all aspects of its production. The event was able to achieve Gold level certification by receiving 50 out of 50 credits it applied for, improving upon the silver certification it earned in 2013. Credits in the Council’s certification program are based on industry best practices in the areas of planning and communications, procurement, resource management, access and equity and community legacy.
“We are thrilled to have been awarded this designation”, said Operations Director Tom Skinner. “Our staff and Volunteers have worked tirelessly over the years to achieve this goal. We can all feel proud that we are doing our very best for the environment and our community. We feel that we have set the bar high for other events in the region and across Canada.”
The Council for Responsible Sport’s certification director, Shelley Villalobos, commended the achievement by saying, “this gold certificate is well-earned by Canada Running Series for its mature, thorough approach to hosting an exemplary responsible event in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon.”
While ecstatic about the Gold certification, the team at Scotia Half is already thinking of ways to improve for next year. Over 80% of participants surveyed said sustainability efforts were good or great, and many provided suggestions on ways to improve. Plans for 2016 include:
Join us at Canada’s most sustainable run on June 26, 2016! Sign up today at VancouverHalf.com to show your support for sustainable events!
TORONTO February 1st 2016. Earning an IAAF Gold Label from the International Association of Athletics Federations represents the epitome of road race management and for the second consecutive year the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has been awarded this distinction.
Meeting the very strictest criteria, not once but twice, puts the race in the elite category of city marathons around the world, a fact not lost on Race Director Alan Brookes.
“We’re thrilled to receive the Gold Label for the second year in a row,” Brookes declared after receiving the news from the IAAF head office in Monaco. “It’s the Michelin 3-stars of running.
“To be placed in the same category as Boston, Chicago, London, Tokyo and the great city marathons of the world is an enormous honour. It really testifies to the prestige of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and our commitment to being a leader in road running in Canada.”
For IAAF Competitions Director, Paul Hardy, the awarding of the Gold Label was especially pleasing. He hails from nearby London, Ontario.
“The IAAF Label programme recognizes the best road races in the world,” he declares. “To achieve Gold Label status takes hard work, commitment and a passion to want to be the best. I congratulate the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on receiving the IAAF Gold Label. Having grown up just down the highway from Toronto, I know what a great city it is and what a great place it is to run. Keep running Toronto.”
Eric Gillis, STWM 2015
The news was also greeted warmly by two of the Waterfront Marathon’s greatest athletic personalities, Eric Gillis, whose five fastest marathon times have come at various editions of the race, and Lanni Marchant, who famously broke a 28 year old Canadian women’s record in 2013 with 2:28:00.
“I thought Alan was a gold label race director since the first year I ran STWM back in 2010,” Gillis says. “He has just been phenomenal for Canadian athletes. He is passionate about every athlete he has running in Toronto. This (Gold Label Award) is just a really nice thing to have happen. I am very happy for Alan and his crew at the Canada Running Series.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to race a competitive international race just over an hour’s drive from where I train and live. It has meant a lot to me over the years. It is special.”
Gillis ran 2:11:31 in Toronto last October to beat the 2016 Olympic qualifying standard. If he is named to the Canadian team it would be his third Olympic games. Marchant also achieved the Olympic qualifying standard with 2:28:09 in Toronto on the same day.
Lanni Marchant, STWM 2015
“I just think it speaks volumes for Canadian running in general,” says Marchant who is presently in the midst of high altitude training in Kenya. “You used to have to go elsewhere to get Gold Label events and to get the best competition, and having it in our backyard now kind of shows where we are as a country in athletics.
“It shows the kind of events that Alan Brookes has been putting on. It just makes it exciting as a Canadian runner that I can line up in my home country and have one of the best fields to line up against.”
Over the years the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has attracted some of the world’s greatest marathoners.
Ethiopia’s Derissa Chimsa set a course record of 2:07:05 in 2013. Sharon Cherop of Kenya set a course record of 2:22:42 in 2010 then went on to earn a bronze medal at the 2011 IAAF World Championships and a victory in the 2012 Boston Marathon. In 2011 Mare Dibaba finished 2nd in Toronto behind her Ethiopian compatriot, Koren Jal. Last August, Dibaba was crowned World Marathon Champion with an impressive victory in Beijing.
But along with the many elite athletes who compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money are thousands of runners racing on an accurately measured, well managed course to challenge themselves or to raise money for local charities. Last year another $3.5 million was raised by Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon runners for 173 charities.
Entries are now being accepted for the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon which is set for Sunday October 16th.
“It puts Toronto on the world stage,” Alan Brookes says summing up the value of the Gold Label, “and it is recognition for our amazing Canada Running Series organizing crew, the thousands of volunteers, charities, City of Toronto staff, runners and spectators alike, who have built something very special for the sport and the city we love.”
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To register:
www.stwm.ca
Hello fellow runners;
As 2015 fades into our log books, 2016 is coming up fast! Canada Running Series is ALMOST done – bar the wrap up! WHAT a year it was! In addition to 8 great Series races, we also had the Pan Am Games to organize and enjoy. A massive THANK YOU to all of you for the important part you played in an outstanding year. Almost 60,000 participants; more than 5,000 volunteers; 19 fabulous sponsors; tens of thousands of spectators and cheer squads; and a whopping $6 million raised for our 339 Official Charities. So many great stories, and reasons to cheer. Beyond EPIC!
Although there’s still a lot of tidy-up activity happening at the CRS offices – paying bills and prize monies, mailing out unclaimed awards, writing 2015 reports for our sponsor partners, we’re also full swing into 2016 – designing next year’s medals and t-shirts, fun new activations and more.
Are you ready?
We have some VERY exciting stuff in the works, including a new race. What will it be called? When will it be held? Where will it run?
Because of these tasty updates, we’ll be LAUNCHING online registration tomorrow for the following Individual Races:
COMBO PACKS, with multi-event discounts, for our full Eastern Calendar [including Toronto Spring races] will be coming SOON. We’ll have that up and available as soon as we have finalized our plans – and you’ll be among the first to know! ‘Til then, let’s keep running, keep in touch, and get planning for new goals, and thrilling new adventures together in 2016.
Alan, @alnbrookes
© 2025 Canada Running Series.
