Any time Ed Whitlock, 85, of Milton, Ontario, steps up to a starting line, there’s a good chance a record will fall. Sunday’s Waterloo (Ontario) Half Marathon was no different. Whitlock blazed the course in 1:50:47 (8:27 per mile) to establish a new record for 85-year-olds, breaking the 2006 record of Germany’s Georg Gabriel by 9:18.
Whitlock holds more than 80 age group world records at distances from 1500 meters to the marathon. In 2004, at age 73, he ran a 2:54:48 marathon, and he remains the only person over 70 to break 3:00 in the marathon.
Each new birthday has brought a chance for Whitlock to destroy a new set of records. Shortly after he turned 85 in March, Whitlock set world indoor records in the 1500 meters and 3,000 meters for 85–89 year olds.
Whitlock has struggled off and on with injuries over the past couple of years, but his recent racing suggests he has hardly missed a beat. Whitlock indicated post-race that he had hoped for an even faster time.
“I expected to run a little faster than I did today,” Whitlock told CTV News after the race. “It still was a record, so I’ll be content with that I guess.”
In the half marathon alone, Whitlock now owns 10 single-age records ranging from his 1:20:33 at age 68 to yesterday’s run.
Whitlock is known for his unique training which, in the past, has included a steady diet of 3-hour runs around a short loop in his local cemetery.
In March, Whitlock hinted to InsideHalton.com that his half marathon might wind up being a test run, to see if he should take another crack at the marathon. According to the Runner’s World race times predictor, a 1:50:47 would translate to a 3:50:59 marathon. Whitlock holds 11 single-age records in the marathon, and the current record for 85-year-olds is 5:00:25, set by Lloyd Young in 2008.
