When I think about 2016 and what it was that stood out the most for us, or had the biggest impact, or created the greatest lasting impression, there are many different things, but the commonality between all of them is Flight Crew.
For the past year every single week rain or shine, sick or healthy, injured and sitting out or training hard for PB's, you show up - you help build the running community by welcoming new faces, supporting one another, and never considering yourselves above any one of your peers. Every single thing that took place in our community this past year happened because of each of you. You give us the confidence to keep pushing forward and try new things - this is what we accomplished with all of you.
January 24
Flight Crew Trail kicked off with a beginner/intermediate route around the UBC Endowment Lands.
February 27/28
The shop played co-host for the Bagel Chase, a two-day running event in support of the Backpack Buddies program.
April 3
INSTANCE Sunday bRUNch went down with a lot of socks, a great run and some fantastic breakfast support from Be Fresh Local Market.
April 17
We led our first run at Catherine Roscoe Barr's The Life Delicious urban wellness retreats. If you have never checked out Catherine's retreats it's a must for positive personal, career and life growth.
April 24
We partnered with Musette Tours to offer guests of the Loden Hotel guided and self-guided running tours of Vancouver's North Shore mountains. As a sidenote: The new Musette Caffe opens this week at 1325 Burrard Street.
April 28
The shop turned one!
May 8
Wings For Life World Run happened at 4:00am. We got chased by bikes, saw some very odd things at that hour, ate an amazing breakfast, all in the name of spinal cord research.
May 31
We made a beer! In collaboration with Postmark Brewing we launched the Postmark | Vancouver Running Co. Helles Lager.
June 2
That beer we launched a few days prior, we had our Flight Crew Anniversary and drank it all - Flight Crew turned one!
June 10
We launched VRC Flight Crew Premier as a way to add benefit to those always running and supporting Flight Crew. 2017 launch coming very soon...
July 6
VRC Flight Crew Premier Speaker Series kicked off with our friend Catherine Roscoe Barr. The speaker series took place every two months.
July 14
Our friends at Mile2Marathon came over to lead our Thursday night with a workout. Consensus was good times, save for the dog poop smell and almost getting locked into the Folk Fest...we think we'll have them back.
July 28
Flight Crew Thursday's were expanded with a new 5K option. From this point we offered 5K and 10K road routes on Thursday's and trail on Sunday's.
August 11
We teamed up with East Van Run Crew for the 2nd Annual Summer Social. This little soiree is now in the books as a yearly event attracting crews and runners from around the globe for a fun gathering and pre-Seawheeze shakeout. This event also proved we can apparently hold 200+ people in the shop at once.
September 10
We hired our first full-time employee Clare. Clare is English, has a great sense of humour (also English), doesn't take crap from anyone (again, English), hasn't gotten all Canadian mushy, is a fantastic writer, destroyed her marathon PB this past fall in Victoria, shares a love for doughnuts, will run at anytime wherever you'd like, and enjoys a pint or two. We're going to keep her.
September 28
Our neighbours lululemon invited us up to Whistler to hang out for four days of running, yoga, reflection and connection. We did all of that plus some and are stoked to keep working closely with them into 2017.
November 16
We launched Own the Run 2017 with our good friends at Physio Room. Want to get a handle on your body and how it performs in preparation of your 2017 running goals, then check out the program.
December 15
In collaboration with East Van Run Crew and Fraser St Run Club we held the 2nd Annual Holiday Social. We originally put the Holiday social together to get local runners and crews together for one last big group run while raising money for the Food Bank. This year we did just that and raised over $1200!
2016 saw the completion of our first full year in business with the second year rounding out soon. Flight Crew is going strong and well supported with our team of dedicated ambassadors ensuring every Thursday and Sunday are fun and inclusive, and we have recently expanded our trail ambassadors with the addition of Hollie Holden and Eric Hallson. I truly feel we have surrounded ourselves with those that want to take running to the next phase and we're looking forward to 2017 and everything we'll accomplish together.
Let's get started shall we.
