Olympian Wodak chasing Canadian 10K title and record

Natasha Wodak knows her new coach knows what it takes to establish a Canadian record in the 10-kilometre road race.

Lynn Kanuka set that mark, and it has stood every day since March 3, 1989, when the athlete then known as Lynn Williams finished in 31 minutes 44 seconds in a race at Orlando, Fla.

For anyone surprised that standard has survived so long, consider this: The 10K road record set by Paul McCloy in Orlando is two years older than that.

“It’s always special to have a Canadian record. It’s something no one else has done in Canada,” Wodak said Friday. “It’s very special.

“It would be unbelievable. I’ll keep training my little butt off, and hopefully I’ll get there,” added the 35-year-old Vancouver resident, who in early May 2015 established a Canadian track record of 31:41.59 for 10,000 metres at Stanford, Calif.

Three weeks later, Wodak ran a personal-best 10K road race of 31:59 in Ottawa, where she finished fourth overall and behind only Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., in the Athletics Canada championship for that distance. Marchant got even closer to Kanuka’s record that day, crossing the Queen Elizabeth Driveway finish line in 31:49.

“I don’t think either one of us really took the time to look it up before racing,” said Marchant, who took down another 28-year-old Canadian record when she raced the Toronto marathon in 2:28:00 in 2013.

“We all strive to be the fastest we can be,” said Marchant, who won’t defend the national 10K title she also won in 2016 after withdrawing because of illness a few weeks ago.

With Marchant on the sidelines, Wodak will be the clear favourite to add what would be a first Canadian 10K road title to previous national crowns in five km and cross-country. A record time would be fantastic, but there are a couple of caveats.

First, Wodak has only been training and competing for a few months since December surgery on a problematic toe on her right foot. The 2016 Rio Olympian still isn’t at peak fitness and wants to build toward the world championships in August at London, England.

Wodak placed sixth overall a year ago, once again second behind Marchant in the national championship, with her time of 33:51. That, however, was on a weekend when the capital region was under a heat advisory.

The weekend forecast of daytime highs in the low- to mid-20s C would seem much more favourable for all runners. Maybe there’s a race or national record in one of them. gholder@postmedia.com twitter.com/HolderGord