Ed Whitlock is god. A masters long-distance god, at least. Sunday at age 73, Ed broke the 3-hour barrier for the marathon for the third time as an M70 runner. I don’t normally pay attention to the roadies, but Whitlock’s story has a cool twist. He was gonna be challenged — and seriously — by a Dutch M70 runner at Sunday’s Rotterdam Marathon. I don’t think the Dutchman cracked 3, but Whitlock had a time in the 2:58s, according to the balky results site.

All I know about the Rotterdam rivalry of the two stud M70s was in this preview story:
The Rundown in Rotterdam
Milton man takes on a Dutch challenger in a race for the aged
By ROB LONGLEY — Toronto Sun
Ed Whitlock doesn’t spend three hours a day running around a Milton graveyard for the good of his health.
At age 73, he is the picture of fitness, as one might expect of a world-renowned marathoner.
But if there is a little more bounce in the step of the septuagenarian these days, there is reason. The first and only man aged 70 or older to crack the three-hour barrier in a marathon — he has done it twice — has a new focus.
This Saturday at the Rotterdam Marathon, Whitlock will accept the challenge of Dutch champion Joop Ruter to a match race within a race.
Whitlock, who ran the 26-plus miles at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon this past September in two hours 54 minutes and 49 seconds, will take on the young(er) whippersnapper Ruter on the 71-year-old’s turf.
“I have some personal doubts about whether I am really that competitive,” the modest Whitlock said in an interview. “I take no great satisfaction from beating someone else.
“But I don’t like to be beaten myself.”
With that in mind, Whitlock acknowledges the variation of focusing on a single opponent is an intriguing concept for a marathoner.
“It is different,” Whitlock said. “The main objective for me and for him, in this case, will be to beat the other person. The time is kind of secondary. We will be watching each other a bit, certainly in the early stages of the race to see how things are developing instead of concentrating on what the appropriate pace should be.”
Rotterdam organizers see the senior showdown as more than a mere novelty act. Like most of the world’s top marathons, in recent years the event has been dominated by Kenyan and Ethiopian runners.
Now the anticipated big crowd at the scenic downtown course will have a local rooting angle.
“Joop Ruter expects a great race,” race organizer Martine Meijburg said. “Even if he doesn’t run 2:54, he still hopes he will beat Mr. Whitlock in his city, in his marathon.”
Since Whitlock first broke three hours at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront race, Rooter has made it his goal to do the same. He was on pace to run through the vaunted marathoner’s barrier in the 2004 Rotterdam race before windy conditions in the final few kilometres rendered him leg weary.
Organizers of the Toronto Waterfront event are expecting a return engagement between the two men here on Sept. 25.
Such hype and attention is a little foreign to Whitlock, who says he much prefers the solitary challenge of his sport.
“Embarrassed is a little too strong, but I’m taken aback by that sort of thing,” he said. “I prefer to fade into the woodwork. Most of my satisfaction is internal, not external.”
Still, Whitlock has become a legend in the distance-running world, the marvel of runners half and even a third his age.
Marathoners are meticulous statskeepers and Whitlock’s win in Toronto last fall has been compared with the achievements of Brit Paula Radcliffe, the women’s world record holder.
And consider that at the 2004 Waterfront Marathon this past September, the next closest 70-plus competitor was almost half an hour in arrears.
“At Ed’s pace, that’s four miles,” said Toronto Waterfront executive director Alan Brookes. “It is absolutely phenomenal what Ed has accomplished. When you look at his performance relative to others in the world, it is truly remarkable.
“He must be incredibly biomechanicaly sound.”
Illustrative of his humility, Whitlock didn’t think he was particularly talented as a marathoner. Born in England, he ran shorter distances as a young man but stopped in 1952 when he emigrated to Canada.
Whitlock began to run again in the 1970s and was a multiple world master’s champion at shorter events. He now races at reduced distances to help build speed to go with the stamina built by his daily regimen.
Along the way, he has defied the convention of modern sport. No coaches, no special diets — “I eat what my wife puts in front of me,” he says, and no special workout routine.
“Until last year, I didn’t really consider myself a natural marathoner,” Whitlock said. “Now I am thinking that maybe I have more ability in that field than I had previously given myself credit for.
“Completing a marathon is no great accomplishment — if you pace yourself slow enough, it’s no great trick. The trick to running is when you get ambitious, try to go fast.
“Who knows, maybe 70-year-olds should be running a hell of a lot better than they are.”
STRIDE FOR STRIDE
ED WHITLOCK
Age: 73
Height: 5-foot-7
Weight: 112 lbs.
Home: Milton, Ont.
Personal best: 2:54.4.
Quirk: Trains three hours a day by running circuits at a Milton cemetery.
JOOP RUTER
Age: 71
Height: 5-foot-8
Weight: 117 lbs.
Home: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Personal best: 3:02.49.
Quirk: Celebrated win in last year’s Rotterdam Marathon by drinking and dancing in a pub.

Me again: I’m still waiting to hear results for Ruter (also spelled Rooter in some stories.) Whitlock probably cleaned Ruter’s clock.