Ed Whitlock (March 6, 1931 – March 13, 2017) was an English-born Canadian

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...

runner, and the first person over 70 years old to run a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

in less than three hours, with a time of 2:59:10 in 2003. Whitlock, who ran as a teenager and took up the sport again in his forties, first became the oldest person to run a marathon in less than three hours in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, at the age of 69, with a time of 2:52:47. He later extended this record, running a time of 2:58:40 at the age of 74. At 73, he set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in the marathon for men 70 to 74, running a 2:54:48, his fastest time after turning 70. According to an article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', if age-graded, this time would be equivalent to a 20-year-old running 2:03:57 and which would have been the fastest marathon ever run in 2010. For an explanation of age-graded tables, see

masters athletics Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics (sport), athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross ...

. At the time of his death, Whitlock was known to be the only person over 70 to run a marathon in less than three hours, although Gene Dykes has subsequently done so several times, as has Jo Schoonbroodt. In the rescheduled 2021 London Marathon, Mike Sheridan of Newbury AC joined this list by running 2:59:37, which he bettered in 2023 to 2:59:13. At age 85, he became the oldest person to run a marathon in less than four hours at 3 hours, 56 minutes 34 seconds at the

Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a road-running race held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, every year in the second or third Sunday of October. Aside from the actual marathon, the race also includes a half-marathon. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon ...

in October 2016.

Early life

Whitlock was born in a suburb of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and later moved to Canada to pursue an engineering career following graduation from

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

, England. He later resided in

Milton, Ontario Milton (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population 132,979) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing m ...

. While at school and university in England, he was a serious junior runner, primarily at cross country but also at track and road relays. He was the winner of the

Ranelagh Harriers Ranelagh Harriers is a road running and cross-country club based in Petersham, Richmond, south-west London, England. The headquarters are its clubhouse, which is behind The Dysart restaurant and right next to Richmond Park, allowing plenty o ...

and South London Harriers inter schools cross country races in consecutive years, 1948 and 1949. He was the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

champion at cross country and 3 miles on the track. He stopped running after arriving in Canada.

Return to running

Whitlock did not start running again until he was 41, concentrating on middle-distance running, and after several years recorded best times of 1:59.9 for 800 metres and 4:02.5 for 1500 metres. He started running marathons accidentally when his youngest son who was into running at the time in school determined he was going to run a marathon after running every day for over a year without a break. His son was only 14 at the time. Whitlock tried to deter him, but in the end reluctantly ran the race with him. Although not concentrating on the marathon, he ran 2:31:23 at age 48. In his sixties after retiring he started to concentrate on road racing and latterly the objective of becoming the first man over 70 to run a marathon in less than three hours. After an initial attempt at age 70, injury prevented another attempt until age 72 when in 2003 he completed the marathon 2:59:10. In the following year, he lowered the record to 2:54:49 and in 2005 ran 2:58:40 at age 74, making him the oldest man to run under three hours for a marathon. In 2006 he set the world record for the 75 to 79 age group with a time of 3:08:35 at the

, and in the

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

on April 15, 2007, Whitlock lowered that mark to 3:04:54 on a day when the marathon was stopped after three and a half hours because of high temperature. On September 26, 2010, Whitlock ran the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon in 1:34:23.4. After turning 80, Whitlock improved the marathon world record for his age category by almost 15 minutes to 3:25:43 at the 2011 Rotterdam Marathon on April 10, 2011. He then further improved on his age category world record at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16, 2011, lowering the record to 3:15:54. At age 81, on Sunday, September 16, 2012, wearing bib number 1, Whitlock broke the Canadian and unofficial world half-marathon record at his hometown inaugural race, the Milton Half-Marathon, running 1:38:59. In 2013, he lowered the record to 1:38:11 on the same course. Whitlock also competed on the track, where as of 2012 he held 15 world age group records ranging in distance from 1500 metres to 10,000 m and age groups 65+, 70+, 75+, 80+ and 85+, as well as the three age group marathon records 70+, 75+ and 80+. On October 16, 2016, Whitlock, aged 85, ran the Toronto Marathon in 3:56:38, setting a new world record.

Awards

In 2016, Whitlock was inducted into the Milton Sports Hall of Fame as nominee in the inaugural induction class. The Town of Milton named a street after Whitlock, which intersects with Highway 25.

Death

On March 13, 2017, Whitlock died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, one week after his 86th birthday.

World age group records set by Ed Whitlock

The Milton, Ont., native held 36 world age class records on the road and track. ;Outdoor – track : † 2016 times not (yet?) ratified as world records : * record subsequently beaten by Ron Robertson NZ ;Indoor – track : * Records subsequently beaten by others ;Outdoor – road

Road records by age group

In addition to the records above recognised by

World Masters Athletics World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became ...

, the Association of Road Race Statisticians keeps single and group age road records. Whitlock's age group records recognized by ARRS follow. ;Road world records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlock, Ed 1931 births 2017 deaths Canadian male long-distance runners Canadian male marathon runners Deaths from prostate cancer in Canada English emigrants to Canada English male marathon runners British male marathon runners British masters athletes Athletes from London Sportspeople from Milton, Ontario Old age record holders World record holders in masters athletics 20th-century Canadian sportsmen 20th-century English sportsmen