9 questions with Canadian 10,000m champion Victoria Coates

The next athlete featured in our ‘Shoutout Tag’ series is Hamilton’s Victoria Coates. The reigning Canadian 10,000m champion recently punched her ticket to El Salvador and the 2018 Pan American Cross Country Cup by finishing second at the 2017 Canadian Cross-Country Championship. An ex-McMaster Marauder and Queens Gael, Coates works for the city of Hamilton as an urban planner, and is (still) a die-hard Survivor fan.

Here, we find out which other runners Coates calls out in ‘Shoutout Tag,’ where runners answer questions with a shout-out (or two) to a fellow Canadian and cap off the Q&A with who they would like us to feature next.

Alex Cyr: Who would win in a Canadian running Survivor match

Victoria Coates:  Julie-Anne Staehli. She is very charming and very good at convincing people to do things for her. She could be very strategic and effective in Survivor.

AC: Who would be the worst urban planner in the Canadian running community?

VC: Easy. Mike Tate. He lives on a farm, so I’m not sure if he could understand the city. It might be a big too big for him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BehJ6lEh8j9/

AC: If you were trapped on a deserted island, and could have one person there with you, who would you choose?

VC: That’s an easy question. Lisa Brooking. She is a nurse and is very knowledgeable. She is super well-prepared for emergencies because she always carries baby wipes and baby food. When we went to Uganda together for the [2017 IAAF] World Cross-Country Championships, she took care everything.

AC: Who would you put in charge of your wardrobe for a week?

VC: Someone young, like [Canadian star high schooler] Brogan MacDougall. She is pretty trendy – if that’s a word people still use. She could keep me looking young.

AC:Who would you want to take on a date? Where would you take them?

VC: Melissa Bishop. There is really no other choice. When I found out I made Team Canada for the World Cross-Country Championships, I immediately became excited about wearing the Canadian singlet like Bishop. I’m a fan girl.

AC:Who in the running community is most likely to follow the latest crazy internet fad and taste a Tide Pod?

CB: [Recent sub-4:00 miler] Corey Bellemore. Based on his beer miling ability, he seems like he would be up for the challenge. Maybe he would not even feel the Tide Pod’s effects.

AC: Who would you elect as the next Prime Minister of Canada?

VC: [Third Canadian at the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon] Melanie Myrand. She is really awesome. She is a nurse practitioner and just a super positive person. She has everything together.

AC: Who would you put in charge of your social media accounts for a week?

VC: Sheila Reid, even if has hasn’t posted in a while. She is pretty funny on Twitter and Instagram.

AC: Who do you tag to be the next star of this ongoing feature?

VC: [UBC’s] John Gay, because he’s super nice and he is a red-head like me. We have to stick together.