It’s a busy time of the year for the executive director of the Vancouver International Marathon Society, Charlene Krepiakevich. That’s because this year’s BMO Vancouver Marathon, which she is overseeing, is a collection of six events involving more than 16,000 participants. It’s a remarkable rise from its humble beginnings in 1972, when only 32 runners crossed the finish line.

“What’s unique about the BMO Vancouver Marathon is that we have multiple races going on at the same time,” Krepiakevich explained to the Georgia Straight by phone. “They’re basically separate races. They’re not duplicates.”

On Sunday (May 1), marathoners and half-marathoners will both leave from Queen Elizabeth Park. But they’ll go in opposite directions before ending up at the same finish line on West Pender Street between Bute and Thurlow streets. According to Krepiakevich, the half-marathon runners will start appearing there around 8 a.m. The marathon runners won’t start showing up at the finish line until about 10:45 a.m.

There’s also an eight-kilometre race starting in Stanley Park, and those runners will be at the West Pender Street finish line around 10 a.m.

“It’s staggered so it’s not completely congested at the finish line,” she stated.

There is also a relay race on Sunday, as well as a Saturday (April 30) kids’ run and a 2.5-kilometre walk.

Last year’s winner of the women’s marathon, Ottawa’s Lioudmila Kortchaguina, will be back trying to defend her title. The 2012 women’s winner, North Vancouver’s Ellie Greenwood, is also in the race. Another strong competitor is Victoria resident Catrin Jones, who came third in the 2013 BMO Vancouver Marathon and who has two first-place finishes in the Victoria Marathon.

Other elite runners in the women’s marathon are Sophia Liu of China, who won the Seattle Marathon in 2014 and 2015, and Hirut Guangul of Ethiopia, who placed second in last year’s BMO Vancouver Marathon.

The man with the fastest time entering this year’s BMO Vancouver Marathon is Kenyan Jonathan Kipchirchir Chesoo, who won a marathon in Buenos Aires last year. He’ll be competing against Canadians Oliver Utting and Ryan Day, who came third in the 2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon.

One of the favourites in the half-marathon is Kenyan Paul Kimaiyo Kimugul, who won this competition in 2014.

Krepiakevich said the elite runners will be competing for $40,000 in prize money. There’s a $1,000 bonus for the first male and female marathoners who beat the course record. The first male and female half-marathoners who beat the course record will each collect $500.

“The citizens of Vancouver have embraced this race and realize that it’s a world-recognized sporting event, and it really generates a lot of economic value to the city,” Krepiakevich said. “This couldn’t happen without a whole army of about 4,000 volunteers.”

It's also gotten noticed in some major media outlets, including USA Today, Forbes, and CNN.

There's also a Health, Sports & Lifestyle Expo with more than 100 exhibitors at Vancouver Convention Centre West. It takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday (April 28), 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday (April 29), and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday (April 30).

On race day on Sunday, there will be 34 entertainment stations along the route.

"It's a whole variety of music from DJs to singers and drummers," Krepiakevich said. "It's a great opportunity for the locals to get out and cheer for the runners and to be entertained by this great array of music."