Pidhoresky

When Dayna Pidhoresky took her spot on the start line at the 2019 Canadian Marathon Championships / Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, she knew anything could happen. She had been there plenty of times before, but this time was different. She was healthy, she had put in the work and she was confident that she was going to have the race of her life that day … and she did. Pidhoresky carved nearly seven minutes off her personal best, crossing the finish line in 2:29:03 to earn her spot on the Canadian Olympic Team.

Heading into the race, Pidhoresky was overshadowed by Kinsey Middleton, the defending champion, and Malindi Elmore who had a better personal best than Pidhoresky by more than four minutes. Even when Elmore withdrew from the race due to injury, Pidhoresky continued to fly under the radar.

When the gun went off, Pidhoresky took it out hard at an aggressive pace and laid down a 1:12:56 half, which was more than a minute faster than the Canadian pack that consisted of Middleton, Emily Setlack and Tarah Korir. The next 21 kilometres proved to be a challenge as Pidhoresky started to fade. But she relied on her training, and the space she had put between her and the pack, to secure her spot in Tokyo and to become the fifth-fastest Canadian marathoner of all-time.

It is hard to believe that Pidhoresky had considered giving up on her Olympic dream earlier that year after a disappointing finish at the 2019 Ottawa Marathon. She believed her fitness was within the 2:29:30 range, but the warm and humid conditions got the best of her and she crossed the finish line in 2:37:19.

Heartbreak from a race is nothing new to Pidhoresky. Despite placing third at the 2016 Canadian Marathon Championships, she suffered a sacral fracture that crushed her physically and emotionally. She battled back seven months later to run a personal best marathon of 2:36:08 in Ottawa. That performance led to her selection for the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, and she started drawing comparison to follow marathoners and Canadian greats Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene.

Pidhoresky began dreaming of competing at the Olympic Games when she switched to road racing after university and discovered her affinity for running long distances. She had unfortunately been injured for much of her collegiate career with the University of Windsor Lancers, dealing with a lot of shin issues as well as a femoral neck stress fracture, but enjoyed success as a senior when she placed sixth at the OUA Cross Country Championships and was a Second Team All-Canadian at the CIS (now U SPORTS) Championships.

Shortly after graduation, Pidhoresky won the 2010 Detroit Free Press Half Marathon in a personal best time of 1:13:15. The decision was made. She was going to pursue running and her Olympic dream. A second-place finish at the Canadian Cross Country Championships later that year only further cemented her plans.

In the fall of 2011, Pidhoresky decided to target a personal best in the half marathon. She ran 1:11:45 in Niagara Falls, which was a Canadian best (though record-ineligible) at the time. She realized if she could get her body in shape to race a marathon, she could aim to make an Olympic team. However, she encountered more adversity over the next few years, incurring multiple injuries which left her unable to train consistently. But after regaining her fitness and overcoming heartbreak multiple times over, Pidhoresky set herself up to become the Canadian Champion in October of 2019 and an Olympian for the first time.

Though she has not run a marathon since 2019, Pidhoresky will make her Olympic debut on Aug. 7 in Sapporo.