Tarah Korir reveals her secret weapon for Sunday’s Ottawa marathon
Canadian Tarah Korir hopes to join her husband Wesley, the 2012 Boston marathon champion, in Rio with an Olympic qualifying standard in Ottawa on Sunday.
Tarah Korir, a native of St. Clements, Ont., will have a very special pacer to help guide the Olympic hopeful to the Athletics Canada qualifying standard at the Ottawa marathon on Sunday. Wesley Korir, the 2012 Boston marathon champion, is set to pace Tarah, 29, to a sub-2:29:50 clocking in hopes of having his wife join him in Rio.
Wesley was named to one of the top three spots for the Kenyan marathon team, which also includes two alternates, in Rio and is expected to compete for the East African distance running powerhouse at the Olympics.
The Ottawa marathon is the final day of qualification for the Canadian Olympic team in the women’s marathon, an event in which Canada currently has two eligible athletes set to compete in Rio, Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene.
The Korir family is based in Kenya, where they have been situated for several years, and Wesley is a member of parliament. He is a notoriously good racer in hot conditions, a factor that Tarah is able to gain confidence from as the two often train together.
RELATED: Kenya’s Olympic marathon team to have a Canadian connection in Rio.
“My husband loves this weather [hot, humid] but the heat has always affected me a bit more,” says Tarah. “When you’re racing you never know what to expect. You can’t go into the race just thinking about the weather, you have to have confidence in your training and there’s so many things that come together on race day.”
“I will have to have the race of my life,” she says, in reference to possibly achieving the Olympic standard. There’s a chance that she tries to make the Olympics in the 10,000m in the scenario that she doesn’t hit the women’s marathon standard on May 29.
RELATED: How to adjust your race effort for heat and humidity.
Though conditions are expected to be brutal for marathon running on Sunday morning, with temperatures expected to reach 25 C with humidity at the time of the 7 a.m. start, Tarah has performed well in adverse conditions before. She ran a very good race at the world half-marathon championships, where she represented Canada, finishing in 1:12:04, good for 23rd, in less than ideal conditions (rainy and cold).
Tarah Korir says she'll be paced by her husband @weskorir, previous Boston champ, at the @OttawaMarathon on Sun pic.twitter.com/I6KKS0pkiF
— CanadianRunning (@CanadianRunning) May 27, 2016
Tarah joked that Sunday’s race is expected to be simply a “long run” for Wesley as he’s run 2:06:13 for the marathon. The two met at the University of Louisville.
“If I’m going on an easy run, I often go on my own because running with him will turn into a workout with me,” the 29-year-old says in reference to their training dynamic.
RELATED: Throwback Thursday: No lack of split shorts at the 1984 Ottawa marathon.
Sunday’s Ottawa marathon will be just her second attempt at the distance following her debut in the fall at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (2:49). Tarah told Canadian Running that having several Canadians, including Marchant, the national record holder in the women’s marathon, visit Kenya each winter helps “jump start” her training.
I hope my wife will join me @Rio2016_en as she tries to hit the standard during @OttawaMarathon pic.twitter.com/3jHl6Dnu67
— Hon wesley korir (@weskorir) May 10, 2016
Regardless, Tarah is expected to be in Rio to watch her husband represent Kenya in the marathon. Now, she’s hoping to join him as a fellow Olympian rather than just a spectator.
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