Harry’s Spring Run-Off around the corner

If history is the judge, the 2014 Harry’s Spring Run-Off, the second Canada Running Series event of 2014, on April 5 will generate as much excitement as any other footrace in its thirty-seven year history. Over the years, this 8K race through Toronto’s High Park has attracted Olympians from Canada and around the world.

In 1994, Daniel Komen, an unknown Kenyan, set the course record of 22:35 before going on to win the 1997 IAAF world championship 5000m  and set world records over 3000m and 5000m. As always, the race has given runners of all abilities the chance to test themselves on a challenging but scenic course.

Krista DuChene, who powered away from the field over the final hill last year, is back to defend her title but faces a quality field chief among them Tarah Korir.

Korir, formerly Tarah McKay, is a St. Clements, Ont., native and is married to Kenyan runner Wesley Korir, who she met at the University of Louisville.

Korir moved to Kenya last September following the birth of her son, Jayden. Wesley is the 2012 Boston Marathon champion and a member of Kenyan parliament.

Since January, the couple’s three-year-old daughter, McKayla, has been attending a primary school in Cherangany, which has freed up some time for her mother to get in more consistent training.

“I wasn’t that consistent for the first few months,” Korir admits. “I wasn’t really sure where we were staying with Wesley working in Nairobi — he has to be in parliament three days a week — and in Cheranqany. We were back and forth a lot. I was sort of running when I could but slowly increasing the amount; a lot of easy miles.

Wesley and Tarah, along with her parents, have formed the Kenyan Kids Foundation Canada, a charitable organization which strives to improve education, health and well-being for Kenyan children.

“I feel that since January my fitness has been coming along,” she reports. “I am not sure it is where it was at two years ago. I don’t know I haven’t ever stayed this long in Kenya at altitude. I feel like I am getting fit again but I am not at my peak yet. I am excited to race again in a competitive environment. I always like to race close to home.”

Kenya’s first lady, Margaret Gakuo Kenyatta, has been behind a series of half marathon races in each of the 47 counties across the country. They are in support of maternal and child health. Since Korir is a mother of two and Wesley is both a father and an MP, they decided it was a noble cause for them to run together in support of the initiative. Completing the distance has her now entertaining the notion of adding the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal to her racing schedule when she comes to Canada for April and May.

Korir has adapted to life in Kenya. The biggest challenge, she says, has been incorporating her husband’s political career into their home life.

“I think when Wesley became an MP, our lives changed in many ways,” she reveals. “It became so busy. There’s not a lot of time for the two of us. He is an MP in an area with people who constantly want to talk with him.”

“The nice thing about Kenya is that most families have mother’s helpers. A lot of girls finish high school and they might help with a family for a short period of time. McKayla leaves for school early in the morning and I go for a run. The girl that stays with us stays with Jaden when I run.”

The 2014 Harry’ Spring Run-Off 8K is nearly 90 per cent sold-out at this point and race director Alan Brookes promises another professionally organized event.

Edited from a press release.