Ed Whitlock
English-born Canadian long-distance runner
Died when: 86 years 7 days (1032 months)Star Sign: Pisces
Ed Whitlock (March 6, 1931 – March 13, 2017) was an English-born Canadian long-distance runner, and the first person over 70 years old to run a marathon 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, 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 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, 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.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.
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 in October 2016.
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Canadian long-distance runner
Long-distance runner
Long-distance runner