Windsor native makes national team
Frustration has finally turned to elation for Windsor native Dayna Pidhoresky.
The former Maranatha Christian Academy standout spent five seasons running for the University of Windsor Lancers. When she graduated, Pidhoresky eventually turned to marathon running, but it wasn’t until last month that she finally had a breakout race while competing at the Ottawa Marathon.
Not only was her seventh-place finish the best by a Canadian woman, but her time of 2:36.08 also surpassed the qualifying standard set by Athletics Canada of 2:45 to be considered for the world championships.
On Monday, the 30-year-old Pidhoresky, who now lives in Vancouver, was one of six marathon runners named to Canada’s team for the IAAF World Championships, which will be held in London in August.
“It definitely has been a goal to make a world team,” the 30-yearold Pidhoresky said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
But getting to Monday’s announcement by Athletics Canada has been almost a marathon in itself for Pidhoresky.
While former Lancers teammates Melissa Bishop and Noelle Montcalm went on to compete for Canada at the Olympics in track and field, Pidhoresky knew that wasn’t the path for her to follow.
“I never thought I was going to be a marathoner and in university and high school, nothing indicated I would be on a world team,” Pidhoresky said. “My body likes the long distances. I’m not fast enough for the shorter stuff.”
She started with road races and focused on half marathons and by 2011 was ready to shift and do a full marathon, but things never fell into place.
“I did want to do a marathon, but was never able to put one together,” Pidhoresky said. “I had a string of injuries and kept getting sidelined.
“One of my main goals was to try and make Rio (for the 2016 Olympic Games) and that didn’t end up happening. I was injured and just didn’t get a good marathon in.”
In fact, it wasn’t until after the Olympic Games in 2016 when she finally completed her first marathon at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, but it came at a price.
“I suffered a stress fracture during the race,” Pidhoresky said. “It was very painful and I had to take a couple months off and started running in January.”
She tried to run a marathon in Houston in January, but had to drop out after 25 kilometres because of gastrointestinal problems.
At that point, Pidhoresky set her sights on the Ottawa race last month knowing she was cutting it razor close to be considered for a national team spot and everything fell into place.
“I was really happy,” she said. “I think a part of it was I believed I could do it. As crazy as it sounds, I knew I could do it and I wasn’t surprised, but to finally have it all fall into place was like, ‘Wow, I finally did it.’ ”
She credits coach Josh Seifarth, who is also her husband, with helping to keep her balanced during the tough times.
“He’s definitely more calm and reserved than I am,” Pidhoresky said. “I expect more out of myself, so sometimes he has to rein me in a bit. It’s a good match and he balances it out.”
She has her eyes set on Canada’s 2020 Olympic team in Tokyo, but will use the London experience to continue to grow.
“It’s a big stepping stone for Tokyo,” said Pidhoresky, who is headed home to Windsor this week for a break. “I know I have many years of marathoning ahead.”