The Canada Running Series has increased the prize pool for their three Vancouver races to $25,000. Each event will also have additional bonuses for records. This marks the largest increase between two adjacent season in the series’ 15 year history. The increased money towards what will presumably be elite-calibre event winners comes in the wake of a summer marked by races and race directors slashing funds for appearance fees and event winners. “I believe strongly in races for everyone: for high-performance and competitive runners, for healthy lifestyle runners and for charity runners,” Alan Brookes, CRS race director, explained about their continued commitment to elite athletes. “There’s room for everyone under the big tent and we all feed off each others’ energy. We think this is the model for city races, from Toronto to Tokyo, London, Chicago, Vienna to Vancouver” The Vancouver Spring Run-Off, half-marathon, and Eastside 10K races will be there three that see the increase in prize money. There will also be more depth to those who take home some money; the top five athletes in both men’s and women’s races will get a cut. “High performance runners bring media and buzz. […] High performance athletes are Canadian heroes, great role models for our kids, examples for us. They help build a sense of Canadian pride; they reinforce our own quest for self-improvement, goal-setting and achievement,” said Brookes. “The Canada Running Series is the largest Canadian organization putting on road races in the county. We have 16 full-time staff.” The first CRS event of 2014 is the Vancouver Spring Run-OFf 8K on March 23 in Stanley Park.
Author information
The post Canada Running Series increases prize pots appeared first on Canadian Running Magazine.