T. Kenji Sugahara
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Claire Bonin
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:29 PM
Subject: Gastown
To: "kenji@obra.org Sugahara"
Hi Kenji
Not sure if you got this. Can you pass this information to the women
of OBRA please - equal prize money, $13,000 to the winner, that helps
pay some bills.
Thanks
Claire
GASTOWN GRAND PRIX BECOMES RICHEST WOMEN���S CRITERIUM IN NORTH AMERICA
2014 race to feature more laps, more riders and the richest prize purse ever
VANCOUVER, BC (June 10, 2014) ��� The 2014 Global Relay Gastown Grand
Prix women���s race on July 9th will feature more laps, more riders and
its largest ever prize purse as it becomes the richest women���s
criterium in North America with $25,000 cash and thousands more
available in crowd and sponsor primes. The women���s distance will also
be increased from 30 to 35 laps (42 km) to reflect the growing calibre
of the women���s field, which finished well ahead of schedule last year.
The BC Superweek race, which is also part of the USA CRITS
Championship Series, will now offer a $13,000 winning prize and the
same prizing as the men for every position. The increase in prize
money and move to gender equalization for prizing was led by title
sponsor Global Relay, a Gastown-based technology services company that
provides the worldwide financial industry with cloud-based message
archiving and compliance services.
Led by CEO Warren Roy and President and General Counsel Shannon
Rogers, Global Relay has been recognized by Waterstone Human Capital
as one of Canada���s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures, cited by Ernst
& Young as the 2013 Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year, and
profiled by BC Business Magazine in its ���Best Companies to work for in
BC��� series.
In addition, in the past year alone, Shannon Rogers has won the
Western Canada General Counsel Business Achievement Award and the RBC
Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award in the TELUS Trailblazer category.
She was also named to the Women's Executive Network Most Powerful
Women Top 100, Business in Vancouver���s Influential Women in Business,
and for the third year in a row, was ranked among the top three female
entrepreneurs in Canada in the Profit W100.
���As a businesswoman running a technology company, I am very proud
Global Relay is offering North America���s largest women���s criterium
prize purse at this year���s Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix,��� said
Rogers. ���Whether their career is in technology, business or cycling,
successful women all share a strong spirit, drive and work ethic. At
Global Relay, we are committed to promoting these qualities among our
staff and in the broader community and to helping women in all fields
follow their dreams and achieve their goals.���
Cycling Canada President John Tolkamp applauded Global Relay���s move
saying, "We are very pleased to see the Global Relay Gastown Grand
Prix continue to recognize and support women's cycling. We commend the
organizers for bringing parity to the prize list and I am personally
looking forward to an even more exciting and stronger event in 2014!"
Global Relay���s efforts were also supported by former pro Gina Grain,
who shares the record of three Gastown victories with Verna Buhler:
���It���s wonderful that the sponsors are recognizing women's talent and
are supportive of it. Equality has been and still is a long time
coming in women's cycling and it���s nice to see it moving forward.
Women train just as hard as the men, why shouldn't the prize money be
equal?���
Global Relay provides additional support for women���s cycling through
its Bridge-the-Gap fund which is led by current cycling pros Svein
Tuft (Orica GreenEDGE), Will Routley (Optum Pro Cycling) and Ryan
Anderson (Optum Pro Cycling), and former pros Erinne Willock and
Andrew Pinfold.
The program addresses the gap that exists in the development of
Canadian cyclists between the ages of 19 to 25, by helping provide
access to the coaching, resources and equipment cyclists need to reach
their full potential. Among the women cyclists the program supports
are: Lex Albrecht (TWENTY16 Pro Cycling); Kinley Gibson, Jenny Lehmann
and Tessa Pinckston (Trek Red Truck Racing); Annie Ewart, Leah
Kirchmann, Denise Ramsden and Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly
Benefits Strategies); Gabrielle Pilote Fortin (Poitou-Charentes
Futuroscope 86); Annie Foreman-Mackey (Stevens-The Cyclery) and Anika
Todd and Alizee Brien (Team TIBCO).
In an effort to continue the growth of cycling, the other races in BC
Superweek have also increased their prize money in order to offer
equal prize money to the top three men���s and women���s podium finishers
in each race. That brings the overall prize money for the BC Superweek
series up to $120,000 for 2014.
Online registration is available on the new BC Superweek website.
Discounts are available to riders entered in all stages, and teams
that sign up six riders for the entire BC Superweek series can
register an additional three riders at no cost.
About BC Superweek
BC Superweek is Canada���s biggest cycling series, with $120,000 in
prize money available during nine races over 10 days. BC Superweek
runs from July 4-13, and is made up of the Tour de Delta (July 4, 5,
6), UBC Grand Prix (July 8), Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix (July 9),
Giro di Burnaby (July 10) and the Tour de White Rock (July 11, 12,
13). For more information, visitwww.bcsuperweek.ca.
About Global Relay:
Global Relay is the world leader in cloud-based messaging, archiving
and search technology for the financial sector. Global Relay is
headquartered in Gastown, with offices in New York, Chicago, London
and Singapore. In 2012, Global Relay invested $1 million to bring back
and operate the Gastown Grand Prix, Canada���s most prestigious
criterium which attracts some of North America���s top cyclists and
crowds of 20,000 to the streets of historic Gastown in Vancouver each
July, as part of BC Superweek.
For more information about Global Relay, visit www.globalrelay.com
For more information about Global Relay's Bridge-the-Gap fund, visit
www.grbridgethegap.com
For more information about the Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix, visit
www.globalrelayggp.org
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Kenji Sugahara
Executive Director
Oregon Bicycle Racing Association
Phone: 503-278-5550
http://www.obra.org