Posted: July 13, 2006

Athletics: Ed Whitlock takes aim at Canadian M75 record at Nissan 5K, Friday evening

TORONTO. July 13th. In what will be an important tune-up for this September's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Milton running phenomenon Ed Whitlock will be gunning for the national Men 75 years old record for 5K, at this Friday evening's Nissan Foundation 5K in Toronto. The current Canadian record is 20 minutes 42 seconds, held by Maurice Tarrant of British Columbia. That's right, that's a pace of 6 minutes and 40 seconds a mile, at age 75!

But Mr.Whitlock says he's up for the challenge, and evidence would seem to support his bid. Last year, aged 74 years, Ed ran the Nissan Foundation 5K in a very speedy 19:06, or 6:09 per mile. In 2004, he ran a blistering 18:22, or 5:55 per mile.

Over the past 3 years, Whitlock has received extensive global media praise and innumerable accolades from his peers in the running community for his distance running exploits. Last November, he was honoured at ceremonies at the New York City Marathon as a "Runner's World Hero of the Year". He received this alongside running legends such as Norway's Grete Waitz [9 time NYC Marathon winner] and young Olympic stars Justin Gatlin and Lauryn Williams. [for story see TorontoWaterfrontMarathon.com ]

Why all the excitement? Mr.Whitlock is the only person on the planet over 70 years of age to have run a marathon in under 3 hours. He has done this now on three occasions--twice at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where he set the Men's 70+ world record of 2:54:49 in 2004, and once in Rotterdam. Three hours is a magical barrier that most runners a third his age would give almost anything to break! And it has been claimed that on recognized scales of comparative, age-graded performances, Ed's 2:54 ranks as a greater performance than superstar Paula Radcliffe's remarkable women's world record of 2:15:25.

This September 24th, the legendary Mr. Whitlock will be gunning to become the first 75 year old on the planet to go under 3 hours. Run with him this Friday at the Nissan Foundation 5K at The Docks in Toronto, or come cheer him on and enjoy the party. Information at Canada Running Series.

To give some idea of the scale of the achievements of Ed Whitlock, "The Master", here is a current list of his records:

World Records. 
 Indoor track: 
1500 M70 5:12.22        
3000 M65 10:11.60
        M70 10:52.40      
        M75 11:28.28      
Outdoor track:
10000 M70 38:04.13
Road
10K M70 37:33          
15K M65 55:04          
15K M70 58:19          
1/2 Mar M70 1:22:23         
Marathon M70 2:54:49
 Canadian Records:   
6 indoor records M55 to M75 1500 to 5000
10 outdoor M45 to M70 1500 to 10000
33 road M50 to M70 Mile to Marathon

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