Reid Coolsaet and Leslie Sexton are 2018 CRS champs
Two veterans of Canadian running racked up the most points in Canada Running Series races this year
Two-time Olympian Reid Coolsaet, 39, and 2017 Canadian Marathon Champion Leslie Sexton, 31, have been named this year’s Canada Running Series champions. As with other similar race series, CRS allows competitors to accumulate points based on their performance at its races.
3/3. @LeslieSexton is @RunCRS 2018 WOMEN’S CHAMPION ??? “At the start of the year my coach & I sort of planned out the races with (winning the CRS title) in mind. Going into the #STWM I knew I needed a good performance there to win. So that was defthe highlight (of the year).” pic.twitter.com/bq5qZuwbFq
— alan brookes, CRS (@alnbrookes) December 19, 2018
Coolsaet and Sexton each took home the $3,000 prize awarded to this year’s champions. Coolsaet won both the Toronto Waterfront 10K and the Eastside 10K, and his second-place finish at the Canadian Marathon Championships (held at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 21) earned him additional points, for a total of 142. (Cam Levins became the Canadian Marathon Champion with his 2:09:25 finish at STWM, a new Canadian record.)
It was Sexton’s second year in a row winning the CRS title, this year with 149 points. She, too, was second at the Canadian Marathon Championships (won by Kinsey Middleton in her marathon debut). Sexton’s 2:36:03 finish qualified her for the 2019 World Championships, but she is focussed on the 2020 Olympics, and will attempt to meet that standard at Scotiabank instead.
1 of 3. @ReidCoolsaet is @runcrs 2018 MEN’S CHAMPION ? “The CRS title was something I was always shooting for. When I planned out my season early on, I knew I was going to run the #STWM. I just thought, ‘Well I want to make sure I have enough races to get that title.” pic.twitter.com/VRiTJXxzgC
— alan brookes, CRS (@alnbrookes) December 19, 2018
Tristan Woodfine (126 points) and Sasha Gollish (144 points) finished second in the CRS standings. Trevor Hofbauer, who won the Eastside 10K, and Canadian 10,000m record-holder Natasha Wodak (130 points) were third. The second-place finishers received $1,500 each, and the third-place finishers $1,000.
CRS boasted a total of 64,810 participants in 2018, with women making up 58 per cent. Participants raised more than six million dollars for charity.
Here’s what Canada Running Series looks like for 2019, its 30th year:
Toronto
Race Roster Spring Run-Off (April 6)
Toronto Waterfront 10K (TBD)
Oasis Zoo Run (September 21)
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (October 20)
Western Canada
Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon (June 23)
Under Armour East Side 10K (Vancouver–September 14)
Edmonton 10K (TBD)
Montreal
Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal (April 27, 28)
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