Ep. 39 Conquer the Vedder with Gary Robbins

from Community Trail Running · host Adam Lee

“Every single person, start to finish, is treated like they won the race, like they’ve been the most important person there. That’s a part of our DNA. Making sure that every single person that comes across the finish line feels celebrated.”Coast Mountain Trail Running is a finely tuned machine at this point. The group has been putting on events in British Columbia for quite some time, and they’ve got it down as well as a participant could hope for. Gary Robbins and Geoff Langford are the two Race Directors for CMTR, and on top of their love for trail running events, they also have a passion for multisport events. That’s how they came up with Conquer the Vedder, the SUP, gravel bike, and trail run event coming to Cultus Lake May 27-28. This will be the second year for the event, and 2 years is about how long a race takes to put together, from concept to race day. “That's always a two-year window and that's what I say to anybody who reaches out asking about the event side of things. Your best-case scenario is 18 months and that would need some luck and some connections. But you need to give yourself a 2 year window to bring something to life because the permit process and everything that goes along with it, and especially coming to a new community, a lot of relationships need to be established and a lot of new stakeholders need to be identified and connected with.”Gary was great to chat with and it was fun to learn a bit more about how this event came together. I’ve always loved the events that CMTR puts on and so I was thrilled to be able to chat on the podcast and have Conquer the Vedder as a sponsor for the Vancouver screening of the Trail Running Film Festival! Spotify: Click HereGoogle Podcasts: Click HereApple Podcasts: Click HereYoutube: Click HereMusic by REDproductions from Pixabay.If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)Film Festival - 6 pm Tuesday April 18 at the Rio TheatreConquer the Vedder is a proud sponsor of our Vancouver screening of the Trail Running Film Festival!Click here for tickets!Our other sponsors include:5 PeaksDistance RunwearBeast of Big CreekRidgeline AthleticsThursty Elk Trail RaceHeads or TrailsBlumakaFinlayson Arm RacesSocial YVRHarbour YVRGaliano Trails SocietyWe’re busy getting ready for The Big Night! Tuesday, April 18 at the Rio Theatre where the doors will open at 6 pm and the show starts at 7 pm.Click here for tickets!We have 9 great films to watch, awesome door prizes, a 50/50 in support of SAR, and even some special treats courtesy of Tailwind Nutrition for the first people in the theatre, so show up early! There is also…Film Festival Special Guest Filsan AbdiamanWe’re so excited to chat with Filsan Abdiaman as our special guest! Filsan started Project Love Run which is “a running collective for all self-identified womxn seeking a space to connect with others and their own minds and bodies”. We can’t wait to learn more at the film festival. The film festival is going to be a great time and I can’t wait to hang out with all of you! Get full access to Community Trail Running at communitytrailrunning.substack.com/subscribe

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