Ed Whitlock’s next WR goal: M85 marathon under 4 hours at Toronto

Ed would be expected to win age group.

Look for Ed to beat many guys half his age.

Sometimes tracko Ed Whitlock holds the marathon WR in three age groups: M70 (2:54:48), M75 (3:04:54) and M80 (3:15:54). On Oct. 16, if the wind cooperates, he hopes to add M85 — and be the oldest to go sub-4 hours. The listed WR is 4:34:55 by Aussie Robert Horman in 2004. A Canadian running magazine spilled the beans Friday on Ed’s marathon goal at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Ed says: “My only real goal for the rest of this year is this race upcoming. I finally made up my mind to do the full instead of the half in the last couple of days. Yesterday, I finally managed to get up to a three-hour training run which is the first three-hour training run I’ve had in three years because of various issues I’ve had. … I’m a broken down middle distance runner and I’ve made myself into a marathon runner.”

Great little interview ends thusly:

CR: You must be excited now to run the marathon again.

EW: I’m not an excitable person. I’m more apprehensive really than excited. I’m sure I can run a marathon. The issue is if you don’t get the pacing right. It also depends what the weather is. The wind would be a bad thing for me. It would affect me the most. I’m not good at running hills or against wind. I can handle heat, but not wind. So you have to weigh those things before and hopefully you get it right. But if you don’t set an aggressive enough time, you don’t get the record you want. That’s the risk you take. My aim will be to run sub four but whether that’s really going to happen or whether that’s realistic or not, I’ll find out halfway through.

All the best to Mr. Ed. Hope he has wind at his back.

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September 24, 2016

One Response

  1. Earl Fee - September 26, 2016

    To exceed 4 hours Ed would have had to decline in performance at 4.4% per year between age 80 and 85. I have examined the WMA world records for runners and found that on the average these world record holders decline in performance at about 3 to 4% per year in their 80’s. But Ed slowed down in the marathon only about 6% total or about 1.2 % per year between age 75 and 80. So based mainly on Ed’s previous performances I believe he will be well under 4 hours at the Scotiabank marathon on October 16. Even though I realize and have found myself there can be some unexpected large declines as we age compared to the previous year.

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