By Glypie Grider
Wesley Korir didn’t have a pair of running shoes until he was in high school.
Now, he’s the University of Louisville’s star runner, and a pre-med student who racks up 100 training miles a week as he strives to one day make it to the Olympics.
“It takes dedication, self-discipline, and hard work,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to wake up in the morning and make myself run, but I always remind myself of my goal—to go to the Olympics.”
A native of Eldoret, Kenya, Korir left his home in search of a quality education, and running was the mechanism that got him to America. “After high school, you either run or go to college, not both. I wanted to study and run – that’s why I came to America,” he said.
When he finally got his first pair of running shoes, Korir admitted that he didn’t like them. “They were extra weight, so I trained barefooted,” he explained.
Korir, who speaks two languages from his native country (Kelenjun and Swahili) as well as English, considers himself a true student-athlete which means he focuses on his academics first, then his athletics. “I block all the pressure of running when I focus on my studies,” he said. “I’m here to finish my education. Then, I want to return home to train for the Olympics,” he said.
After a successful high school career and a stint on the Kenyan National Team, Korir chose to attend Murray State because Kenyan Olympic running coach Paul Ereng was friends with MSU’s coach, Norbert Elliot, and they were offering a full scholarship. When MSU was forced to cut scholarships last year, though, Korir was left searching for another school after running one season.
Korir, wanting to focus both on running and academics decided to transfer to Louisville and opened his 2005 cross country campaign with a second place finish in the Woodford Trials 5-kilometer race on Friday. He finished last year with four individual event titles and a seventh-place finish in the C-USA Championships. He was 42nd overall in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
