The Sporting Goods | Trying to keep up with Chicago Marathoner Wesley Korir

Wesley Korir is one of the fastest men on earth, so I ask him: What would it take for me to beat you in a race?
He’s a modest guy, so he doesn’t laugh at my question. He’s the winner of the 2012 Boston Marathon, two-time winner of the Los Angeles Marathon, and a favorite Sunday 7 to win the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, in which he finished second last year. But he’s not the type to brag.
So I push him.
Let’s say you have to run backward and I get to run forward and it’s only a 5K?
“I don’t know,” he says, diplomatically. “I’ve never run backwards.”
For more of this story and other Chicago sports essays, visit chicagosidesports.com.



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