Bairu was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to an Ethiopian mother and an Eritrean father.

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.

Over his career, Bairu won a record seven Canadian Cross Country Championship titles.