Do you have a BC Athletics Membership? If so, you can compete in provincial and national championships. Also, if you are in a club, see if they are registered with BC Athletics as an official club.

Check out the BC Athletics calendars for all events across the province including road races, cross-country, and track and field.

Did you know that each of the races in the Vancouver Island Race Series is certified by a BC Athletics, Athletics Canada, and World Athletics B-level course measurer? It’s true and the painstaking method to make sure that runners won’t be short-changed is hard work done in the middle of the night, with a thing called a Jones Counter. The measurer (usually named Gary), uses a bike with calibrated tires for circumference, air psi, measured with a steel tape that is air temperature adjusted. Oh, there is much that goes into measuring a course. The entire course is measured three times, over the shortest possible tangents and the middle of the road, and each time, the tires are recalibrated.

Next time that you run a road race, think about the arduous work that a course measurer goes through to get it right, before filing the paperwork and sending it off to BC Athletics for approval. Many age-group course, provincial, national, and sometimes world records are set during the series. ….there is more paperwork for each of those….

What is BC Athletics?

BC Athletics is the provincial non-profit amateur sport organization for track & field, road running, marathons, ultramarathons, cross country/trail running, and race-walking. A Branch member of Athletics Canada, BC Athletics is made up of individual members, member clubs, and affiliated organizations. The purpose of the Association is to promote, encourage and develop the widest participation and the highest proficiency in the sport of Athletics.