Reid Coolsaet is Canada’s most popular distance runner. As a 2x Olympian, 14x National title holder, Reid is known from coast-to-coast-to-coast as one of Canada’s premier marathon runners.
I was ecstatic when Reid agreed to answer some questions for the blog! Since I started running again in 2016, Reid has been a great person of influence. He has admitted in interviews that although he is not the most talented of runners, gutsy performances and hard work can also culminate into a great runner, and although us mortals will never achieve elite status, Reid’s words and positivity give me hope.
Speaking of a great runner, Reid has personal bests of:
5k – 13:21
10k – 27:56
21.1 – 1:02:42
42.2 – 2:10:28
In my conversations with Reid, he was humble and generous with his very valuable time. I would highly recommend following him, and his adorable kids, at his social media accounts:
Blog – reidcoolsaet.com
Twitter – @ReidCoolsaet
Instagram – reidcoolsaet
Strava – Reid Coolsaet
Looking to watch Reid race? You can next watch Reid race at the Boxing Day 10 miler in Hamilton.
Once again, I was thrilled to ask Reid eight pressing questions. We talk his past victories, the 2020 Olympics, his kids and much more.
You can check out the questions below! Thanks for Reiding! (Hahah, horrible pun intended, get it?)
You have had an interesting 2018: 9th at the Boston Marathon, 2nd Canadian and a gutsy performance at STWM, and a plethora of 10k and half marathon victories. How would you evaluate your 2018?
I was happy with a handful of races. Primarily Toronto 10km and Edmonton 10km wins and 9th at Boston. I didn’t run as fast as I wanted to but I do feel I made good progress coming off an injury laden 2017.
Plenty of recreational Canadian runners are parents. You have two awesome kids, who people can follow on you Instagram. What have you learned over the past three years of parenthood about running and parenting that you can share with running parents?
One of the main things is getting to bed early to make sure I get enough sleep. The other thing is being organized and making a schedule so my wife knows when I’ll be busy running. Stroller running has been very helpful to balance running and watching the kids.
Changing gears, would you rather race on the track, roads, or cross country?
Cross-country is my favourite but I’m probably better suited for roads.
You have won around 14 Canadian National Championships in one event or another, which one is your most memorable?
My first title (5000m 2004), not only because it was a little unexpected but it was a very competitive race and I surprised myself with my finishing kick. The other would be in National XC in Guelph (2007) because I had a very tight battle with Eric Gillis on our home course.
Sponsorship, I am sure, is such an important factor in each of your national championship victories. It allows your to be freed of some of the financial restraints of life and allow you to focus on training. Companies like New Balance have been very loyal to you. Why do you think that is? What would you suggest to other high profile Canadian runners who are without sponsors?
Be loyal to a company if you want a company to be loyal to you. That may mean taking a modest deal in the beginning and then show your worth by promoting the brand.
Around the Bay is truly your home race. You have mentioned that you would like to get the course record before your eventual retirement. Obviously this depends on your marathon of choice for the spring, but is this the year you go for the record?
I still haven’t finalized my Spring marathon. It would be nice to have another go at ATB 30km but it rarely works that I can go full-out and then peak for a Spring marathon.
In your latest blog post you mentioned that there were four factors to your tough race at STWM: “age, motivation to dig deep, training leading up to the race and health.” I for one, believe that you still have a sub 2:10 in you, but as you look to your retirement (hopefully not too soon), what unfinished business do you have in running? Do you have plans for a post-running career?
Now that it’s almost 2019 I’m planning races to attempt to qualify for the 2020 games. If I qualify I believe that I could achieve my highest Olympic finish. After running?… I’m not sure.
Thanks again to Reid for joining me on the blog this week!
As always, you can follow me on twitter @AndersenRuns!
Running in Canada 
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