Meet the Markhams’ by James Tate
It is impossible, in such a brief space, to adequately capture the incredible inspiration that Raymar and the Markham family bring to Lotus as a sponsor, and as truly remarkable people.
Ray Markham founded Raymar in 1961 as a local realty company which quickly grew in size and scope, especially after marrying Sharon in 1965. With Sharon handling the books and insurance sales part of the business, and Ray overseeing the primary realty business and apartment building development, Raymar grew to be a much larger concern – at one point housing a stable of over 20 realtors covering the Vancouver real estate market.
Later, in the early 90s, sons Dave and Jason became involved and now largely run Raymar. These days the business is mainly focused on the management of a portfolio of property holdings while also continuing to provide trusted, professional realty services. Dave has held his realtor licence for 26 years. Raymar is also currently working on a rental development near Broadway and Fraser. Raymar offers a significant discount to Lotus members who are in need of a Realtor, with a 15% commission discount on both the buying and selling side, reimbursed after closing.
But a description of Raymar as a business in no way does justice to an adequate portrayal of Ray, Sharon and Dave as individuals. These three talented and athletic Lotus members, are, each in their own right, marvelous, fascinating, and inspirational.
Ray was always an athlete, and played both football and rugby for many years. Cycling is a much more recent interest and its incredible to think that Ray did his first Whistler Gran Fondo , 9 years ago at the age of 80. He got a very respectable time as well! Two weeks later he cycled over 2000K from Shanghai to Hong Kong in 17 days on a mountain bike. On that trip Ray was cycling with a guy who asked him, " there is some 80 year old guy who is supposed to be riding with us have you met him yet?" Now, at 89, Ray is a regular on Lotus group rides, training nights and on Lotus destination rides.
Sharon played grass hockey when she was younger, but she notes that there were not the same sporting opportunities for girls as for boys. She kept up her fitness using the RCAF 5bx exercise program. One of her first sporting endeavours was to take up synchronized swimming with a friend. As a pair they participated in the Canadian National Synchro Swimming championships. Her version is that she and her partner were “easily the worst” performers at the Nationals – but she did it anyway. The motto “Just Do It” really belongs to Sharon – not Nike! While fully integrated into Raymar, Sharon also ran her own fitness company, “Footsteps to Fitness”, doing classes for seniors and women out of the Chown Church on Cambie st. She had 12 different classes and a staff of trainers, focusing on running and general fitness. Sharon became a dedicated runner but the impact took its toll on her and she developed stress fractures in her legs. It was when her legs were healing that Ray bought her a 10-speed Apollo bike. Her legendary cycling career had begun.
Starting in 1995, Ray and Sharon did the first of several bike packing trips in Europe, many of them self-guided. To train for the European trips they joined the “Vancouver Bike Club” where they participated in “sock rides” where completion meant that you received a single sock and you had to do two rides to get a pair! These rides were done in running shoes and T shirts with paniers on their bikes – in those days lycra bike kit for amateurs was unheard of. In addition to riding in the south of Spain, they did several trips in western Europe, including a trip in Austria and Switzerland in 2001 where Sharon broke her elbow. They also did the famous “Camino de Santiago” pilgrimage journey, starting in Bilbao and finishing in the elegant gothic town of Santiago de Compostela.
Sharon and Ray’s athleticism has had a huge influence on Dave, who is an incredible cyclist and over the years has participated in numerous competitive sports including doing multiple Ironmans, swimming in the World Masters Games held in Vancouver 2016 winning numerous Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, rowing in the Canadian Nationals winning Gold and two Silver medals, and numerous bike races, including most recently doing the Tour de Crete and placing third. Dave has also been imbued with a deeply rooted charitable and volunteer ethic and he does fundraising for the Salvation Army every year, serves food at Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood house and has been a Lotus board member as long as the club has existed.
Individually the Markhams are each amazing. Together, as a family, and as a sponsor, they stand as an incredibly inspirational pillar of the Lotus community. The Markhams’ full throttle, “just do it” approach to work, family, community and cycling is infectious. Sharon summarizes it best: “For me the age thing is off the table. I’ve never believed in age, it’s not relevant and you shouldn’t get hung up on it. Just get over it and get it done” .
Photo cred Will Delfino