Donations pour in to compensate for Trevor Hofbauer’s $1,250 celebration

After less than 24 hours, 2017 Canadian Marathon Championships men’s winner Trevor Hofbauer has an additional $2,500-plus to his name thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.

RELATED: Read the full backstory.

In 17 hours, 35 people donated $2,616, doubling the campaign’s original goal of $1,250 – the amount Hofbauer lost for missing the 2:18:00 bonus threshold at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. In the final metres of the race, the 25-year-old Guelph, Ont. resident from Calgary high-fived the crowd and soaked up the experience, which in turn resulted in a slower finishing time. Had he broken 2:18:00 (Hofbauer clocked 2:18:06) he would have won $2,500. (He would have won $5,000 if he broke 2:15:00.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bajn3v2AKPN/

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22 doubled as the Canadian Marathon Championships. Leslie Sexton was the women’s champion, in 2:35:44, winning $2,500. She would have won $5,000 had she run faster than 2:35:00.

Update to the @TrevorHofbauer #STWM celebration: $2300+ raised as part of a GoFundMe campaign: https://t.co/gk6QVYFSFd pic.twitter.com/tqMn9cupKW

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) October 24, 2017

https://twitter.com/TJanusc/status/922829220899721219

The GoFundMe campaign’s description reads the following: “To watch Trevor Hofbauer cross the line as first Canadian at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday was incredible. His unbridled joy and excitement was contagious. You could feel how much this meant to him and he wanted to share the excitement with those in the crowd. Trevor wasn’t concerned about his time. He was entirely focused on the present.

However, the media is quick to point out that this celebration “cost him.” If he had not celebrated, and instead crossed the line a mere seven seconds earlier he would have received a time bonus of $1,250. Money like that can go a long way to fuel the dreams and ambitions of a very promising Canadian athlete.

By donating to this campaign, it is our hope that Trevor will never have to tame his enthusiasm to chase a pay day. Don’t ever change Trevor.”

Campaign organizer Ashley Schiller-Brown provided an update on the page on Tuesday morning.

“Thank you everyone for the overwhelming show of support. In less than 18 hours we more than doubled the original goal. I know there are countless others that still wish to pledge their support to Trevor and many more that want to support him in his training and future career, but fundraising for Trevor’s training was not the goal of this campaign. If fundraising ever were the focus of the campaign, Trevor would never forgive us. That’s simply not who Trevor is.

Some have described this campaign as “righting a wrong.” But nothing wrong happened. Time standards are there for a reason so there was no wrong doing. And of course, Trevor did nothing wrong by celebrating and taking in the moment. This campaign was about something else.

Trevor of course, played no part in this campaign and for most of the day had no idea it even existed. He had been enjoying the day with family undoubtedly absorbed in the moment and only discovered our messages late in the evening. He would never ask for, nor expect anything like this, and the attention has been a little overwhelming.

In an email sent this morning, he described to us how humbled he feels by the outpouring of support. It reads, “Words cannot describe the emotion of how much this act means. I cannot thank you enough and I’m left speechless.”

On behalf of Trevor I would like to thank everyone for their generous contributions. And to Trevor, the community has spoken. Don’t ever stop loving what you do.”