85 year old Ed Whitlock sets new marathon record for age

At the Toronto marathon in Canada last Sunday, 85 year old Ed Whitlock set a new record for the 85-89 age group when he completed the 26.2 mile course in a time of 3h 56m 33s. This was over 30 minutes faster than the previous record of 4h 34m 55s which was set back in 2004.

This now adds to the multitude of age related records that he now holds over various distances. He is also no stranger to running fast times having completed a marathon in 2h 54m at the sprightly age of 73, a record which still stands to this day.

In an interview on Monday, he revealed a few interesting facts....

1) His running shoes are about 20 years old...."I wear them well past their due date. I'm not a fan of the current shoe design, and I have a small supply of this particular model of shoe."

2) Tough on the legs...."My legs are shot today. I seemed to be OK yesterday after the marathon, walking around and that sort of thing, but rigor mortis has set in now."

3) Planning for the next marathon...."It depends how my training goes. One never knows when one has run one's last race, and I'll keep running as long as I can."

Woman in Toronto runs a new record time of 2:53 for an indoor marathon

At an indoor marathon in Toronto last weekend, Monika Kalicinska was the first woman to finish in a time of 2:53:53. The previous fastest was 2:57:34 which was set earlier in 2013.

This was Kalincinska's second marathon having run 2:50:52 outdoors last May.

When interviewed after the event, she said that repeatedly passing runners in a tight space and the nonstandard distance of the loop among her biggest problems. "I was pretty confused. I was planning to run 48 seconds per lap but there it took me 57 to 59 seconds. I didn’t know if I was on pace. I couldn’t go too fast at the beginning, didn’t want to hit the wall. On the other hand I had to keep in mind I am going for a world record, so I can’t go too slow."

Even though they changed direction every hour, she did complain of sore calves and shins afterwards probably because of all the turns.

The first indoor marathon in Ireland is coming up in Midleton on the 22nd of February.