A
s Trevor Hof bauer ran towards the
finish line of the Scotiabank Toronto
Waterfront Marathon two years ago, he
glanced brief ly over his shoulder before
slowing down, high-fiving spectators, clap-
ping and, finally, pumping his fists as he
crossed the tape.
The 25-year-old debut marathoner had just
become the Canadian Marathon champion
with a time of 2:18:05 , but as runners were
quick to point out after the race, the celebra-
tion likely cost him, because 2:18:00 was
a bonus threshold for a prize money pot of
$2,500. By running a few seconds slower than
that time, he’d receive only half of the prize.
The money didn’t matter to Hof bauer, but
that didn’t stop fans and friends from back
home in Alberta quickly crowd-funding to
top up his prize ( he ended up donating a good
chunk of that money to fellow athletes in
Canada and Kenya). At his request, campaign
organizer Ashley Schiller-Brown shut down
the fundraiser once it had raised several
thousand dollars. “ To Trevor,” she wrote in
a n update, “the community has spoken. Don’t
ever stop loving what you do.”
Running hadn’t always been important
to Hof bauer, who was born in Burnaby, B.C .,
but moved to Calgary in elementary school.He played multiple sports, but basketball
was his passion and he dreamed of going pro.
In junior high, he fell in love with running,
throwing himself into a running program at
school and competing for the cross-country
team, but in high school, he wasn’t a star. In
2008, he placed 21st at Alberta’s provincial
high school cross-country championships.
At provincials the next year, he placed 20th.
Gareth Hadfield, another Calgary runner,
won both races.
After high school, Hof bauer studied hospi-
tality management at the Southern Alberta
Institute of Technology (sait), where he
joined the cross-country team in an attempt
to stay active. No one would have mistaken
him for an elite runner during his rookie year.
He wore basketball shorts and cotton T-shirts
to practice, suffered from shin splints, and in
his first national race for the Trojans in 2011,
he finished 75th out of 112 runners.
Yet Hof bauer improved the next year
when he helped the Trojans win gold at the
Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (acac)
championships. At nationals, in 2012, he
broke into the top 30. Kenton Sportak, the
team’s strongest runner at the time, said
Hof bauer was always a friendly, bubbly and
inclusive member of the team, but he couldBy Madeleine CummingsAgainst
the Grain
The Rise of Trevor Hof bauer
12 Canadian Running September & October 2019, Volume 12, Issue 6Matt^Stetsonpro-file