Gary Robbins
Co-Founder CMTR Events
Born and raised in Newfoundland, I moved west at 19 years of age in search of real mountains and a ski bum lifestyle. With $500 to my name and a sense of adventure I somehow made it work and never looked back. Now closing in on two decades here in BC and 10 years as a race director in the Lower Mainland, I am thankful each and every day to be a part of this incredible community of people that gather around trail running events globally.
Geoff Langford
Co-Founder CMTR Events
I’ve been a runner since the 80’s, started adventure racing in 1999, then in 2002 somehow found myself on the other side of the start line as the owner and Race Director of Frontier Adventure Sports & Training (FAST). It’s been an amazing journey from sitting in a coffee shop in North Van with Gary in 2011, dreaming up the Squamish 50, and nurturing it into the Coast Mountain Trail Running community we’ve managed to build – our crew, the amazing volunteers, and all of you runners that continue to show up at our start lines for some crazy reason.
Sonia Mahoney
Course Manager & Volunteer Coordinator
In-between her relentless global travels, mostly to run or support someone at an ultra, Sonia finds time to oversee just about everything on the operations side of things these days. She’s also an expert at keeping the whole team fed with incredible baking, while bringing a sense of calm and good cheer to whatever event she’s at!
Elaine Fung
Racer Relations, Communications & Social Media
Elaine has been an integral part of the Squamish 50 for many, many years now, and she’s no stranger to the race having ran the 50k several times as well as being a regular volunteer. She loves the running community and we love having her as part of this team.
David Papineau
Graphic & Web Design
Paps has been with us from the beginning, answering the call when we first asked if he would be interested in putting together a logo for a rebranded revival of the old Stormy race. Paps is more of a road runner these days, but he’s a multiple-time finisher of the Squamish 50, a 3-time winner of the Club Fat Ass New Year’s Day 50k and is the proud owner of a couple of Western States buckles.
Sophie Laflamme
Volunteer Coordinator
I moved from Quebec to BC in 2022 to pursue my passion of the outdoors and to find people who share the same mountain lifestyle. I found a family among the CMTR team and among the trail running community. Taking part in bringing our love of trail running to people, as course manager or volunteer coordinator, has been fulfilling and so much fun!
John Crosby
MC
John has been involved with over 300 adventure racing events, first finding one in 2002. He now finds his time on the mic as the emcee for many races in BC and is proud to be a part of Squamish 50 since it’s very first start line in 2012. He looks forward to spending time each year with this great team, volunteers, and racers.
Arnault Vernhet
HQ & Logistics
Arnault is from France and comes to us after four years of organizing adventure races in Vietnam. He found his own love of trail running and ultra races after moving to Squamish, which stoked his already strong passion for the outdoors. He has been a great addition to the team, helping take our logistics, course management and overall energy to new heights.
Taylor Smith
HQ & Logistics
As one half of our HQ / Logistics team, Taylor is the poster boy for cool, calm and organized as he juggles all the logistics of this crazy weekend and help keep the whole thing on the rails, down to the right number of pickles at each aid station.
Wing Taylor
Aid Station Manager & Tech Overseer
Wing is a reformed city slicker who now enjoys running trails and bagging peaks on Vancouver’s North Shore. Between a full time “day job”, parenting, volunteering, and training for ultras, Wing knew he had to make some sacrifices, so he no longer cleans his house.
Tom Mulleder
Start/Finish Coordinator & Logistics Support
North Vancouver born & raised, father of 2 amazing daughters, husband to Barbara. Tom discovered his love for mountains in 2013 with a casual mention from a friend at an Xmas party about running the DV50k, where he signed up on the spot. Tom ran his 1st CMTR event in 2015 at RRR, and from there he has become a fixture at the CMTR weekends where he oversees start/finish line, and aid station support, along with whatever else we throw his way.
Lily Carroll
Logistics and General Team Support
Lily is a self-proclaimed gofer! She’s there to help no matter the task and loves the hype and excitement of races. Seeing the pride and accomplishment in racers is one of her favourite things and if she isn’t sobbing happy tears at the finish line, she can be found biking and running her way through the beautiful trails of the North Shore Mountains!
Shannon Sullivan
Kids’ Race Director
Shannon joined CMTR as the Kid’s Race Director, and her enthusiasm for the children’s race has grown to the point where she wholeheartedly believes it’s the highlight of every running weekend. If she’s not working as a counsellor, teacher, coach or Race Directing her own race, she’s out exploring mountain biking or trail running trails, or scaling climbing routes. Often sporting a tu-tu or onesie, you’ll also find Shannon volunteering at the beer gardens or SQ campsites. See you at the start line, kids!!!
Fran Hopkins
Course Manager
Prior to moving to Whistler I competed in Adventure Races in Australia. I now enjoy running on the local trails here and in Squamish. My first Ultra was Zion 50k and my hardest was Finlayson Arm 50k. I am a bit hooked on life here and consider running in the forests and mountains to be my church to which I frequently visit.
Scott Robarts
Photographer
I have been the race / finish line photographer for CMTR since 2015, and have photographed cycling and running events professionally since 2010. I love being outdoors and mostly find myself hiking and mountain biking, though I also love running. The CMTR trail running community is great, one of the best of all the sports I photograph. I love capturing the human element in my photographs — the finish line fist pumps as well as the tears. And I also love capturing these moments for all of the racers, whether you are the first or the last finisher. Everyone has a story and I love capturing that.
Ty Holtan
Photographer
Ty is a Squamish-based athletic, lifestyle and fine art photographer. You’ll probably see him pop up multiple times along the course – how did he get to these locations? Run? Car? Bike? We will never know. Just try your best to smile for the camera, even if you’re deep in your pain cave.
