Ottawa 10K preview: Canadians compete for 10K title

Canada’s only 10K road race with IAAF Gold Label status, the Ottawa 10K, is doubling as the national 10K championships Saturday.

In both the men’s and women’s races, spectators will see two storylines unfold: the competition among world-class international fields and the race for a Canadian 10K title. Then there’s the overall race between all competitors.

Unique to the Ottawa 10K, the race hosts a gender challenge. Elite women start 3:25 before the men and the first to cross the finish, man or woman, will take home an extra $2,000 prize.

Top athletes to watch in the women’s race will be Kenyans Glady’s Cherono, a 32-year-old road race veteran and Peres Jepchirchir, a 22-year-old rising star. Cherono is the defending world half-marathon champion and holds a 10K personal best of 30:57 which she set in 2012. Jepchirchir, though young, has her eyes on the course record.

Correcting an interviewer during the pre-race press conference, she laughs saying that she does know the record. She knows it well: 31:24, set by Mary Keitany last year.

As for the Canadian women, they will be facing a deep field chasing a national title. Natasha Wodak and Lanni Marchant seem to be the favourites. Both set personal best marks over 10,000m on the track recently at the Payton Jordan Invitational, Wodak running a new national record of 31:41.

“We really just wanted to get under 32:00 and get the world championships standard,” says Wodak, though she’s still looking for another first place win on Saturday evening. “I’ve never won a national road race title. It would be really, really cool. I know its going to be hard.”

Also chasing a women’s title will be Canadians Krista DuChene, Tarah Korir (married to Wesley Korir, racing the men’s 10K) and Natasha Labeaud.

Headlining the men’s elite race will be Wesley Korir, a Boston Marathon champion with a Canadian connection being his superstar wife runner, Tarah. Korir is a member of parliament in Kenya and he and Tarah run the Kenyan Kids Foundation, helping to educate youth in the East African country.

“I’m very excited,” says Korir. “2:10 for a member of parliament is not an easy job but fifth in Boston shows that I’m in good shape,” he says of his recent performance there. He won the race in 2012. He admits it’s tough fitting in time for training and his job, but “it’s getting better and better all the time,” he says.

More a marathoner, Korir will be challenged by last year’s 10K runner-up David Kogei of Kenya. The 30-year-old finished last year in 28:07 and holds a 27:56 personal best on the road, though he shouldn’t overlook Switzerland’s Tadesse Abraham. The Eritrean-born runner holds a relatively modest personal best over 10K of 28:28 from the Swiss championships. Considering his marathon PB of 2:07:45, others on the line are likely expecting a fast 10K.

“I didn’t run a flat 10K until now in my life,” says Abraham. “It was the Swiss championship. It was not flat and was not a good course. I’m really excited for tomorrow’s race.”

The 10K is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening. Overall winners will take home U.S. $8,000 with $2,000 bonuses for the gender challenge and course records. The Canadians are racing for $3,000 prize pots as top Canadians with $3,000 bonuses for a national record.