After Hours A PROFESSIONAL’S GUIDE TO LEISURE PROFILE


They Run This After participating in other marathons, some CPAs decided to create one closer to home


E


VERY VICTORIA DAY weekend since 2004, Halifax has been taken over by runners


participating in the annual Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon, which is designed to embody the Atlantic spirit of persevering through adversity. In the weeks leading up to the event, the city’s physiotherapists are worked to the bone helping clients get their bodies in tip-top shape for this community event. One of those runners is Greg Wieczorek, a finance manager at a subsidiary of Maersk who’s one of two people to win the Blue Nose four times. His first victory took place in 2010, a mere three weeks aſter he and his wife, Maura, moved to the city from London, Ont. “I thought the Blue Nose would be a good way to learn my way around the city and become part of the local running community,” he explains. Wieczorek, who has participated in marathons all over North America,


Four-time winner Greg Wieczorek talks to media


appreciates having an option close to home, especially since becoming a dad to twin daughters in the spring of 2015. “The big draw of this one is being able to run in front of friends and family,” he says. The fact that Wieczorek has a local marathon to run in is thanks in part to the vision and commitment of his fellow CPAs Rod McCulloch, Jim Trussler and Gerry Walsh. “Nothing but an idea,” is how Walsh,


a founding co-chair of the Blue Nose Marathon, describes the birth of this event, which features 11,000 to 14,000 participants each year. Walsh, president of executive search firm Gerald Walsh Associates Inc., was recruited by McCulloch, now retired and the event’s other founding co-chair, in early 2002 to help create the marathon, alongside Trussler, CEO of Bydand Global Inc. All had run marathons before but they had zero experience organizing one.


“We absolutely had no concept about what we were doing. We had to make it up as we went along,” says McCulloch. But they learned quickly, mostly through trial and error and listening to critical feedback, he says. They met, along with other local


businesspeople, for nearly two years, and came up with a plan for the marathon. The driving principle? Creating a fun yet professionally run event that encourages the community to get active, especially kids and youth, but doesn’t take itself too seriously (the run T-shirts feature light-hearted slogans such as “Run Like You’re Ten Years Old”). Now, 13 years aſter the first Blue


Nose, the race has approximately 1,400 volunteers, is connected to a Scotiabank Charity Challenge and holds six different running events, including one of Canada’s largest youth runs. “When you see three or four thousand kids on the street ready to start, the energy is just unbelievable,” says McCulloch. In addition to the three accountants, there have been several other CPAs involved over the years, including Phil Rossiter, who served as the event’s treasurer for many years. And the Blue Nose’s current executive director, Sherri Robbins, is an accountant who ran in the first marathon. “I remember the first time I participated and thought, Wow, this is an amazing event,” she says. It’s not the only thing that impressed


her. Of Walsh’s and McCulloch’s efforts she says, “When I think about the volunteer contribution that they have made to Blue Nose and to the community, it’s pretty significant — 15 years of volunteering with one event.” — Alex Mlynek


58 | CPA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2017


Gord Hawkins/KlixPix


Courtesy of Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon/ Danielle Russell


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72