In running, it is a long road to Olympic success. The governing body of our sport, Athletics Canada, is going to change the way that it supports runners. These changes will leave runners abandoned at a critical stage in their development.

It takes a decade to reach your full potential as a runner. High schools do a good job of introducing runners to the sport. Some universities work hard at developing runners, but they are limited to four years. After this there is a huge gap.

Graduation is the greatest barrier in the lives of runners. These are bright, ambitious people. To continue to train, they must put their careers on hold. They need to train four hours or more a day, and be able to travel to international competitions. It can be difficult to find even part-time work that allows this.