The BMO Vancouver Marathon and Half Marathon is organized and operated by the Vancouver International Marathon Society, a non-profit organization.  To make the BMO Vancouver Marathon events a reality, the Society relies on a dedicated group of volunteer Board members, over 4,000 invaluable support volunteers, and an event management team.  The BMO Vancouver Marathon is also a founding member of the Association of International Marathons and Road Races (A.I.M.S.). 

The Vancouver International Marathon Society has been in existence since 1987and have organized the Vancouver International Marathon since 1988, wholly responsible for the staging and growth of this community event. The Society funds the event through sponsorship programs and entry fees.  The event also supports five local charities.

The following comprise the current Board members of the Vancouver International Marathon Society:

Margaret Buttner: Margaret's marketing degree from UBC led her to spending 17 years in various marketing roles in Canada and the US before making the move to the non-profit sector in 2001. She has held fundraising positions at a number of local charities including BC Children's Hospital Foundation and St. Paul's Hospital Foundation  and is currently the    Manager of Annual Giving for The Arthritis Society. She is also involved with Lions Gate Road Runners, the club that founded the marathon in 1971.

Dave Diebolt: David provides accounting, assurance, taxation (Canadian and US),general business advisory services and estate planning in the Vancouver marketplace. The industry sectors he focuses on are real estate (development, construction and investment), hospitality, insurance, engineering, P3s, wholesale and retail. 

            David prides himself on providing excellent client service and finding innovative ways to help organizations achieve their goals and business objectives. David does this using his diverse financial and accounting experience. Some of the value-added services he offers are advising clients on buy/sell issues, formulating tax efficient exit strategies for business owners and representing clients before Canadian and US tax authorities.

            Later David followed his passion for sports and moved into the field of sponsorship marketing.  After three years with a leading sports marketing agency in Toronto, he moved to Atlanta for 2 years to work in Coca-Cola USA’s sports promotions department.   David relocated to Vancouver in 1993 to experience life on the west coast. In 1999 David and Tim Garbutt founded Linx Marketing which currently operates in Vancouver and Edmonton.

            David has been successfully involved in developing sponsorship strategies and activation plans to leverage properties for clients such as Coca-Cola, IBM, McDonalds, ATB Financial and TELUS.  On the property side, David has worked with the NHL, NFL, NBA, the Canadian Professional Rodeo, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Linx Marketing owns and operates two Canadian Tour events, the ATB Financial Classic and the Syncrude Boreal Open.

            David teaches sponsorship marketing at SFU and taught a semester at UBC. David has a Business Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from Royal Roads University.

Devin Gallaher: Devin is a marketing and communications professional with over 8 years of experience working with brands across a variety of business sectors. 
            Currently, Devin is an Account Director at Tribal DDB a world wide interactive agency. Specializing in digital strategy, she has managed and led successful campaigns for brands such as CDC Software, BC Hydro, Canpages, Hoopla Entertainment, Ausenco, Alberta Ministry of Health and University of Alberta. 
            Before joining Tribal DDB, Devin worked in Toronto as the Product Marketing manager for Corus Entertainment. Prior to Corus, Devin lead the account team and managed integrated marketing strategies at Traction Creative for clients such as White Spot Restaurants, Tourism Vancouver, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Original Cakerie and Concord Pacific.
            Devin holds a BA in Linguistics from the University of Victoria and a Diploma of Marketing Communications from BCIT.

Shelley Grisbrook: With over 25 years experience teaching fitness,  competing in marathons and various middle distance races, both locally and abroad,  Shelley continues her passion of running and teaching fitness classes in and around Vancouver.  Having spent 7 years living in Hawaii, she was recognized in the elite category for the Honolulu Marathon for 7 consecutive years, and honoured to be invited to Ichinoseki Japan as an Ambassador of Honolulu in 2007. Other notable marathons include Boston, New York, Victoria and Vancouver.  She is currently working in the film industry as an Environmental/Sustainability Coordinator.

Gillian McCombie: Gillian McCombie is a senior Human Resources professional with 16 years experience in both the mining and telecom industries. Gillian started her career in the mining industry with Placer Dome Inc. During her time she worked across six different countries at the operational, corporate and international levels. She has a strong back ground and expertise in succession planning, talent management, strategic recruiting, employee engagement, policies and procedures and international service. During her time in Telecom Gillian worked for TELUS, where she help build the national engagement strategy and provided strategic HR support to two key business units- Client Experience and Small & Medium Business.

            Recently, Gillian joined Capstone Mining where she is responsible for the overall strategic HR function for the organization.

            Gillian holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of British Columbia and currently sits on the board of the Vancouver International Marathon. Over the last 5 years, she has been involved with the Minerva Foundation for BC Woman, volunteering as a mentor and supporting their various women initiatives.
 

Kristi Miller: Kristi has more than 15 years of financial industry experience, including 11 years in specialized subordinated debt financing. Before co-founding First West Capital, Kristi served as an investment manager at Vancity Capital Corporation where she developed and managed a diverse portfolio of subordinated debt-financed clients

            Before joining Vancity Capital, Kristi managed a portfolio of commercial clients at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and served as an investment officer for the Small Enterprise Equity Fund of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in St. Petersburg, Russia.

            In these various roles, Kristi completed a dozen equity, more than 60 subordinated debt, and over 500 senior debt transactions. Kristi is an accomplished, motivated and creative provider of capital to successful businesses who brings rigorous investment analysis, decision-making, negotiation and execution to the First West Capital team.

            Kristi holds a master of business administration in international business from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor of arts in history and Russian studies from McGillUniversity. She is immediate past-president of the AWF Association of Women in Finance, vice chair of the Vancouver International Marathon Society and former chair of the B.C. Provincial Child Care Council.

Cathy Paterson: Working with one of Canada’s leading sport and event management firms, Cathy became a specialist in management of corporate sponsorships for national sport properties and competitions. In 1995, she established her own consulting business - Altitude West Communications – with the focus of bringing business management and marketing expertise to the not for profit sector. Cathy was the first National Executive Director for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada. Over the last ten years, she has retained a variety of not for profit clients, including the Rick Hansen Foundation, BC Wheelchair Sports, The Directorate of Agencies for School Health and Canuck Place Children’s Hospice. With a passion for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Cathy is has completed 8 marathons including Boston and New York, three Gran Fondo events and is  Ironman Canada finisher.

Magnus Verbrugge: Magnus is a partner with the Financial Services Group at Borden Ladner Gervais.  His practice is focused on insolvency & restructuring, and commercial lending.  Magnus graduated from the University of Toronto with an LLB (1997), MBA (1997) and BA (1993).  He is the Chair of BLG Reads to Kids, a charity through which employees of the law firm supply new books and conduct one-on-one reading sessions with inner city elementary school students.  Magnus is also a director of the Vancouver International Marathon Society.  Magnus is married with three children, and likes to run, hike, cycle and read in his spare time. 

Contact the Board at: info@BMOVanMarathon.ca