Ed Whitlock of Milton, Ontario, has been setting distance records on the track and roads for decades, and became the first (and only) human to break 3 hours in the marathon past 70 — 2 hours, 54 minutes and 48 seconds at 73.
Whitlock “ran in a 30-year-old singlet and 15-year-old Brooks shoes … going through the halfway mark at 1:54:34,” according to one report. “He says that he went out a bit too hard but still maintained an overall average pace of 5:36 per kilometre.” That’s 9:02 per mile average.
The previous world record for men 85-89 was 4:34:55 by Australia’s Robert Horman in 2004.
Running commentary:
Ed Whitlock, 85, runs an astounding 3:56:34 at #STWM @RunCRS to obliterate age-group marathon world record. Here he is at 32.5K. pic.twitter.com/rx3iRBTnbJ
— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 16, 2016
Ed Whitlock, 85, Runs Sub-4:00 #Marathon in Toronto https://t.co/HAAuNIw4x1 via @RunCompetitor (OMG!!)
— OnlyAtoms (@onlyatoms) October 17, 2016
85 years young Canadian Ed Whitlock destroyed the world record for running a #marathon in his age group in 3:56:38 https://t.co/GmAeZPRu6L
— Mark Kleanthous (@ironmatemark) October 17, 2016
What does an 85 year old do the day after setting another world record for running the marathon in 3:57? “Suffer.” Ed Whitlock is the best.
— Matt Galloway (@mattgallowaycbc) October 17, 2016