New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Korir will look to win for fourth time
Leonard Korir has won the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race 20K three times. In 2017, he came in second place by less than a second to one of his idol’s, Galen Rupp.
This Labor Day Korir will run the race for the fifth time and while winning is still his goal, this year he’s using the 20K race as a preparation for his transition into competing in the marathon next season with hopes of achieving his longtime goal of winning a marathon.
“That’s my dream,” Korir said. “That’s why I keep training and that’s why I try to run these smaller races, like New Haven, as preparation for my dream.”
Originally from Iten, Kenya, the 34-year-old began running when he was 20. First it was just for fun because he had his sights set on becoming a soccer player. However, once he realized he wasn’t very good at soccer, he saw how running could get him a scholarship to attended college in America.
Korir committed to run collegiately at Iona College after the head coach flew all the way from Iona in New Rochelle, New York to meet Korir in Kenya and offer him a spot on the team.
“I took it (the scholarship) because the coach came all the way from the U.S. and then came all the way to Kenya to check on me,” Korir said. “He saw that I could be a good runner and I could go and fit into their system for cross country. So, I took the chance.”
Competing in college showed Korir that he was capable of running alongside some of the nation’s fastest runners and come out with good results. He became a two-time national champion, an eight-time All-American, a six-time MAAC Champion and set two school records at Iona.
Korir turned professional after college and got U.S. citizenship in 2016 to com
pete for Team USA.
“In life you give when you can,” Korir said about wanting to run for the U.S. “For me I came from Kenya and I got a scholarship to go to school at Iona in the U.S. I was able to do that for four years and after that you tell yourself, what should I do to give back to the country that gave you so much? … I see this as a way to give back to the country.”
Later that year, he made his Olympic debut in at the Rio Summer Games, where he finished 14th overall in the 10,000 meters. In 2017, he made his debut at the World Championship and came in 13th in the 10,000m.
But Korir wanted to challenge himself more. So, starting in 2013, he began sprinkling in a few half marathon races throughout his season schedules. His best finish came in 2017 at the New Delhi Half Marathon, in which he placed third with a personal best of 59 minutes, 52 seconds.
He ran his first full marathon in 2019 at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, finishing 11th in 2:07:56, for the fastest marathon debut by an American. His time and experience from competing in one of the most strenuous events in the running world lit a passion in Korir. He had already become an Olympian and competed in the World Championships, but now he wanted to win a marathon.
“(To win a marathon) would mean a lot especially in the U.S. Even if you win the Boston marathon as an American, it’s a great achievement,” Korir said. “I want to be one of those medalists too. One day they will say, ‘Korir won the Boston Marathon.’ … That’s why I’m still motivated to keep training and run and hopefully one day I will win one of those races.”
Korir said running smaller races, like a 20K — just 12.4 miles compared to
26.1 in a marathon — helps him prepare mentally and physically for longer races.
He’s made it a priority to run the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race’s 20k, the national championship in the event, for the past five years, winning the race in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
“I have had good results in this race and that’s why I keep coming,” he said. “I want to still keep winning more wins so I can say, ‘One day I was able to win that race this many times,’ and honestly it’s a good race to prepare you if you want to run a marathon.”
It’s the success at the finish line that helps prepare him, both physically and mentally, to continue his motivation in preparing for a marathon. Even his second-place finish to Rupp in 2017 boosted his confidence.
“For me to come so close and run close to him and come that close to beating him was good motivation to give me to say like, ‘You know he has won Chicago (Marathon) once and he’s won a bronze medal in the Olympics (Rupp won bronze in the marathon in 2016), so if I can still compete with him and finish so close to him, it feels like a dream I can achieve,’” Korir said. “I just need to be patient and keep training and wait and maybe my day too will come when I will beat him.”
Korir currently trains in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He often runs 80 miles a week, including daily doubles. He said he plans on running 60 miles this week in advance of next week’s 20K in New Haven.
After the Faxon Law
New Haven Road Race, Korir plans to race a half marathon sometime in the fall before competing in the 2021 USATF Half Marathon Championships in December in South Carolina. He said next season he will focus primarily on racing marathons to get closer to his goal of becoming a marathon winner.