The Royal Victoria Marathon, formerly known as the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon or RVM, is a marathon race held on Vancouver Island in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada every October. It was first held in 1980 and was started by Robin Pearson, Alex Marshall and Bruce "Gunner" Shaw. In 2006, the full marathon saw 1863 participants. The event also features a half marathon, 8K and 1.2K kids run and attracts nearly 10,000 competitors annually in all races. The full marathon is a certified Boston Marathon qualifier.