Simon Bairu

Last updated
Simon Bairu
SimonBairu.jpg
Personal information
Nationality Canadian
Born (1983-08-08) 8 August 1983 (age 40)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sport
Sport Running
College team University of Wisconsin

Simon Bairu (born 8 August 1983) is a Canadian long-distance runner.

Contents

Early life

Bairu was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to an Ethiopian mother and an Eritrean father. [1] He grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada where his family moved to when he was three years old.

Career

Bairu attended Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School, where he flourished as a provincial and then national level track and field athlete. He then attended the University of Wisconsin [2] where he was guided by coach Jerry Schumacher to win two NCAA cross-country titles.

As a post-collegiate, Bairu moved to Portland, Oregon to train with the Bowerman Track Club, a professional athletics group founded by Schumacher that was originally formed primarily by Wisconsin teammates, such as Chris Solinsky, Matt Tegenkamp, Evan Jager and Tim Nelson.

In 2010, Bairu placed 12th at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, as well as set a 10,000 m Canadian national record of 27:23.63 minutes at Stanford (this record was bettered by Cameron Levins in 2013). Over his career, Bairu won a record seven Canadian Cross Country Championship titles. Additionally, he also won the inaugural Miami Beach Half Marathon in December 2011, [3] as well as the San Jose Half Marathon in October 2012. [4]

Bairu officially retired from professional racing in September 2014. [5]

Personal bests

SurfaceEventTime (m:s)VenueDate
Track 3000 m 7:49.20 Gent, Belgium7 July 2007
5000 m 13:25.91 Heusden-Zolder, Belgium28 July 2007
10,000 m 27:23.63 Palo Alto, USA1 May 2010
Road 10 km 28:30 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada26 May 2007
Half marathon 1:02:08 Philadelphia, USA19 September 2010

See also

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References

  1. "The Official Website of Simon Bairu". SimonBairu.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  2. "Taking the long way: Bairu makes run at Olympic bid in marathon". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  3. Flanagan, with sights on London qualification, runs 1:09:58 in Miami Beach. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-12-16.
  4. Simon Bairu Wins Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine Added 2012-10-07
  5. Simon Bairu retires from professional racing