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After setting two M80 world records and contributing to another on the track (See May/June issue of NER), British born long-time Canadian resident Ed Whitlock, 80, proved true in his assertion that he would break the M80 world marathon record of 3:39:18 set by Australia’s Robert Horman at Brisbane in 1998.
(Smiling Ed Whitlock photo by FitzFoto/NER)
Whitlock ran 3:25:43 (3:25:40 net) as part of his plan to 1) break the world record, and 2) break it again (seriously this time) at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this fall.
In the men’s race, what was referred to as “The Magnificent Seven” set out at a pace to break Ethiopian superstar Haile Gebreselassie’s world record of 2:03:59 set in Berlin in 2008.
The group went through 5K in 14:38 (3 seconds shy)
10K in 29:09 (4 second to the good)
Halfway in 1:02:07 (off the WR)
Kenyan Wilson Chebot would win in a PR 2:05:27 for the fastest time in the young season.
In the women’s race, Dutch woman Hilda Kibet led until passed in the final 1K by Kenya’s Philes Ongari. In her debut, Ongari won in 2:24:20 with Kibet setting a 2-minute PR 7-seconds back.
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