Simon Bairu returns to cross-country, named to NACAC team

Aspiring marathoner Simon Bairu is going back to his roots. Bairu has accepted an invitation from Athletics Canada to run on the national cross-country team for the North and Central American championships (NACAC) in January in Jamaica.

Bairu, who is from Regina, joins a star-studded team, which includes Cam Levins and Kelly Wiebe. If the race goes well, it’s reasonable to expect Bairu to run at the world cross-country championships in March — a race that he once finished in 12th place, in 2010.

Shortly after his selection, Bairu tweeted: “Cross Country season 2 start the new year is exactly what I needed. Excited 2 contribute 2 the team.Thanks @AthleticsCanada 4 your support!”

Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharine’s, Ont., is the key name missing from the NACAC men’s team, as he is still competing in the NCAA for Wisconsin.

Levins of Black Creek, B.C., a finalist in the 5000m and 10,000m at the London Olympics, is expected to lead the group of Canadians.

“The goal is to win the team competitions and they are definitely attainable,” said head coach David Christiani. “Cam Levins will lead the team both through performance and experience. We expect this will further motivate the exceptional junior teams we have assembled and they benefit greatly from this developmental opportunity.”

Bairu has struggled over the past two years, in his attempt to transition to the marathon. He dropped out of his latest race around 30K in Fukuoka, Japan. Bairu has just completed one marathon, running 2:19:52 at January’s Houston Marathon. After his remarkable finish at the 2010 world cross-country championships, Bairu went on to set a Canadian record of 27:23.63 in the 10,000m, a few weeks later. In 2012, Levins came within five seconds of the mark in his first attempt at the distance in April.

Canada is sending full teams in the senior men’s, senior women’s, junior men’s and junior women’s races. But the athletes are required to pay upwards of $3,000 each to participate. A fundraising site, using the web tool Chimp, has been setup to help raise money for the teams.