Sympathy for elite marathoner Reid Coolsaet’s tough situation regarding running for a payday or for his country in 2017:

ADAM HORTIAN Very classy guy. I also love that he mentioned the value of prize money for helping him continue to train at a high level . Many race directors are cutting prize money perhaps not realizing its effects. Glad races like Scotiabank [Toronto Waterfront Marathon] still support Canada’s elites. DREW TANNER NICHOLSON These runners are pro for a reason, their office is the roads and trails and tracks they run on 200K a week to achieve blazing fast times I could only dream of. They deserve respect and can’t take on the rest of the world without proper funding. RORY GILFILLAN So Reid Coolsaet runs in the last Olympics and doesn’t qualify for financial assistance? This is the same organization that only supports athletes if they think they are going to get on the podium by setting its own standards independent of the international ones. I have always felt like this is akin to supporting hockey players only after they have made the NHL. Maybe it’s time to get Athletics Canada out of the process and start sending the fastest Canadian marathoners that hit the international standard and crowd source the money required to support their training. Millions of Canadians run in this country. There should be a way to do this (if there isn’t already).