Canada’s Ed Whitlock, famed for his post-70 sub-3-hour marathons, tried a relative sprint tonight in Windsor, Ontario (across the river from Detroit), clocking an amazing 5:41.80 at age 75. That shatters the listed M75 world record of 5:57.2 by American Scotty Carter in 1992. On the Age-Graded Tables, Ed’s time corresponds to an open mark of 3:52.70. Distance great Doug Curtis wrote about Ed in a Detroit Free Press column out this morning.

Here are results from Ed’s mile:
Event 90 Mixed 1 Mile Run Masters
1 Malacznski, Gerard 42 Ann Arbor Track 5:34.65
2 Whitlock, Ed 31 Canadian Masters 5:41.80
3 Bonfiglio, Armando 40 Wrace 5:47.20
4 Collins, Bernie 42 Wrace 5:50.83
5 Taverner, Allan 45 Wrace 6:28.96
6 Watson, John 43 Wrace 6:34.15
7 Crew, Fred 44 Wrace 6:35.65
8 Gibula, Chet 40 Wrace 7:18.93
Here’s Doug’s column:
Senior piling up super feats
BY DOUG KURTIS
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
July 28, 2006
Ed Whitlock will run at University of Windsor Stadium tonight in search of his fourth world track record. Not bad for a 75-year-old.
Whitlock will run in the masters mile, part of this weekend’s Super-Meet put on by the Windsor Legion Track and Field Club. The event is the Ontario Track and Field Association provincial championship and involves 750 athletes from community-based programs.
The meet begins at 4 p.m. (masters mile at 7:15 p.m.) and runs through Sunday afternoon. Go to the Web site http://supermeet.sbweb.cc for more information.
Whitlock, a retired mining engineer living in the Toronto suburb of Milton, Ontario, began his running career in England. At age 17, he ran a 4:31 mile. His move to Ontario in 1952 and family life put his running on hold for 20 years. At age 40, he started running again and hasn’t stopped.
Whitlock recently set the Canadian road record for 5K (age 75) with an 18:45 — that’s a pace of six minutes per mile. He was 74th overall out of a field of 1,114.
Whitlock prefers road races to the track because it offers him the opportunity to run with people of all ages and blend in with the whole event. At track meets, he said, he feels uncomfortable with the limelight and expectations when spectators are focused on his personal efforts.
“In general my times on the track are slower than on the road for the same distance,” Whitlock said. “On the road you can frequently get in with a pack to help you along but still have room to run unhindered.”
Over the past dozen years, Whitlock has set single-age records for almost every road race distance. He received global recognition for his efforts at last year’s New York City Marathon when he was honored as Runner’s World Magazine’s hero of the year. Whitlock is the only runner over 70 to break four hours for a marathon, and he has done it three times.
Whitlock’s training has adjusted with age. Intense training in his 40s has led to more simple and unscientific daily efforts. During some months, his workouts consist of daily loops around a cemetery for three hours a day.
His phenomenal times over the age of 70 include: 18:22 (5K), 37:33 (10K), 58:55 (15K) and 2:54:49 for the marathon. Whitlock also has run 1:02:25 for the Crim 10-miler in Flint.
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