New Wesley Korir documentary Transcend to be released Friday

A major documentary about 2012 Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir is set for premiere and world release on Oct. 10 in Chicago ahead of the Chicago Marathon, which Korir will be racing, though his story is about much more than marathon running.

Korir is a Kenyan member of parliament. He used his Boston Marathon win as a springboard to being elected and fighting for the people in his native region of Cherangany.

The documentary, Transcend, is being produced by Kennedy/Marshall, a company that also made The Armstrong Lie, Seabiscuit and The Bourne Identity. The filmmakers will hold a 6 p.m. screening on Friday, Oct. 10, at Fleet Feet Sports in Chicago. Korir will speak at the screening

The film has a few Canadian connections, having been co-directed by Canadians Tad Munnings and Michael Del Monte. Del Monte is a former University of Toronto collegiate runner who holds the Ontario University Athletics championship record and Munnings spent some of his younger years living in Kenya. Korir’s wife, Tarah, is a Canadian and the couple spends time each year living in Canada with their two children. Two two met while at school in Louisville on the track and field team.

The film also features an interview with Canadian bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell. The Blu-ray and DVD releases also contain a longer, extended Gladwell interview ande two mini documentaries on Haile Gebrselassie and the Robertson twins, two Kiwi brothers who, at the age of 17, moved to live and train in Iten, Kenya.

A feature in the upcoming issue of Canadian Running has a story about the making of the film.