Ed Whitlock (born in 1931) ran through the inclement weather during the October 2016 Toronto Marathon, wearing running shoes that were fifteen years old, and broke the the men’s 85–89 age group world record for marathon running. Not only did Whitlock break the 12 year old record, he beat it was a considerable margin – 30 minutes.
Whitlock’s impressive effort was to complete the marathon in 3:56:33, which shattered the previous time of someone in this age category (which was of 4:34:55, set in 2004.)
According to Runner’s World, Whitlock has a habit of breaking records. Ed Whitlock became the first person aged 70 or older to break 3 hour time in the marathon (at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon, coming in with a time of 2:59:10.) Whitlock also holds the record for someone aged 70 or older, with a time of 2:54:48, as well as the record for someone aged 80 or over (at 3:15:54.) He has now added the over 85’s category to these world marathon records. Whitlock holds other records too; these include the mile world record for 85-89 year olds, whuch he holds at 7:18.55, which was established in June 2016 at the Cambridge Classic Mile event.
Whitlock trains in a cemetery n in Milton, Ontario, Canada. This eerie location appears to be working, as he demonstrates incredible fitness for someone of advanced years. Interviewed by Running Magazine, Whitclock says that he did not think the record was in his sights for he started the race too quickly. “I was thinking that this was going to be an absolute disaster,” Whitlock explained. “I was well under four-hour pace at that point.”
Clips of Whitlock’s effort can be seen in the following video:
