Ed Whitlock is hardly hibernating after setting a new world record in the 85- to 89-year-old age category Sunday in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
The distance specialist is busy conducting interviews with media from around the globe as reporters vie for sound bites from the octogenarian, who ran 42.195 km in three hours, 56 minutes and 33 seconds.
1. How does your body feel in the week after running a marathon at age 85?
EW: Not too bad. No different really than how I felt after marathons in the past. My legs are a bit stiff.
2. How do you deal with the discomfort?
EW: I just wait for it to go away. That’s my secret recipe for all my aches and pains. In general, most therapies don’t seem to work for me. If I have a massage, for instance, I spend 15 minutes on the table and it feels better for 15 minutes after. And then you’re back to where you were before.
3. What’s it like to be an international star with media outlets like CNN and the Times of London calling for interviews?
EW: I’ve sort of done this before. Been there, done that. It was kind of like that when I ran my best marathon allowing for age when I was 73. I did it in two hours and 54 minutes, and there was a fair amount of consternation created over that. In my mind, realistically, my performance this weekend is not really as good as that one was. I’m over an hour slower in 12 years, and I don’t think I should have to go down hill that fast. My preparation for this marathon was not ideal. I did not make my mind up to run it until two weeks before the race. I only thought I was marginally prepared for it due to various aches, pains, and issues that caused me to miss time training this year. So I had about two months of decent marathon training, whereas ideally I would want six months. If I had six months of good training and if the weather was perfect, I think I could take a substantial amount of time off what I ran on Sunday.
4. How many world records do you own?
EW: They keep asking me that, and I’m embarrassed to say I’m not really sure. There are two outfits that I know of keeping world records. One is the World Masters association. They keep track of records and the only road record they keep is the marathon. With them, I believe I have 16 and five pending ratification now. And then there’s another outfit called the Association of Road Race Statisticians, who keep records for road races including the marathon. I think I have about 20 road records with them.
5: How many marathons have you run?
EW: I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know that, either. Just over 40. Maybe 41 or 42. I did my first marathon at age 46. So I’m averaging about one a year.
6: What are your favourites?
EW: Well, I don’t pay much attention to the scenery when I’m running. I’m more worried about my own misery than anything else. But I like courses that basically start and finish at the same place. I don’t like one-way races. That’s one of the reasons I’ve never run Boston, because it’s a one-way race. There are issues about what your performance is really worth depending on whether the wind is with you or against you. I also want a course that’s flat. I’m not a strong hill runner. So ideally, I like something that’s pancake flat. I also like one that doesn’t have any wind. I’m not a very good runner against the wind. So given all those things, I suppose maybe the best course I’ve run on is Rotterdam in Holland. I think it’s a little flatter than the Scotiabank one in Toronto. I’ve run Scotiabank a lot of times, and it’s one of my favourites. It’s also one of my favourites because it’s local, it’s easy to get to and there’s no travel involved. Less hassle.
7: Where do you train for the marathon?
EW: I train in a cemetery about 100 yards from my house.
EW: There’s a number of reasons. No. 1 is the drivers in there are a lot more of a docile lot than the ones you typically meet on the Milton streets. Also, the footing in the winter is typically better than the sidewalks in Milton. They do a pretty good job of clearing in there, whereas some people clear their sidewalks in Milton and others don’t. The other thing is, in the cold weather if you run around and around in a circle, you don’t have to face the cold wind for too long. And if there are any ice spots, you know where they are. You’re prepared for them. And in the summer, I can run in the shade for most of the time. I guess the primary reason, really, is I don’t count the number of laps I run, and I don’t time the laps I run. That way, I don’t get into competitions with myself. If I run around the town for a set distance, I always say, ‘Oh my goodness, that was a bad run today.’ Or ‘I better pick it up to try and do as well as I did yesterday.’ I don’t want to get into that stuff.
9: How did you start running marathons in the first place?
EW: It was accidental. My youngest son was into running at that time in school, and he had been running every day for more than a year at that point without a break. He was bound and determined he was going to run a marathon. He was only 14 then. And so we did our best to deter him, but he’s an awfully determined character. So reluctantly, I ran it with him.
10: Do you do any other sports?
EW: Certainly not now. I used to muck around. I played badminton and tennis and stuff, but that was years ago. I was never any good at those sorts of things. I don’t have any hand-eye coordination. Basically, all I can do is run.
11: Most distance runners have a laundry list of injuries. Have you ever experienced anything serious?
12: Do you have any other health issues?
EW: Not that I know of. I’m not on any medication. My wife says I don’t look healthy, because I’m so emaciated. I’m 5-foot-7, and on Monday morning after the marathon I was 101 pounds.
13: What do you eat? What kind of diet do you follow?
EW: I don’t pay any attention to that. I’m really quite non-scientific with all of this stuff. I basically eat what I want to eat, and my wife says she can’t understand why I’m so thin when I eat so much. But then, I run a lot of it off. I certainly take more sugar than would be recommended. I eat more butter and fats than would be recommended. Carbohydrates are quite high. I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat a lot of meat. But I really don’t pay any attention to that.
14: What kind of engineering work did you do?
EW: I was trained in Britain as a mining engineer and I came to Canada to work in the mines in Northern Ontario. Then, I graduated from there to being a desk jockey in management in the extractive industry.
15: Did you have any tough moments during Sunday’s marathon?
EW: Oh yes. At halfway, I thought things were going to become very, very ugly. I was having serious concerns then to the point of not being able to complete it. I’ve never dropped out of a marathon, but I thought it might happen with this one. I wasn’t feeling at all good. In hindsight, I ran too fast in the first half of the race. So I got very down on myself. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. This is going to be terrible.’ I concentrated on conserving energy to make sure I at least finished the race. But then surprisingly, I didn’t drop off as much as I anticipated I was going to. I really thought after halfway, with me consciously slowing down, I didn’t think I would get under four hours. I wasn’t concentrating on my time and splits anymore. So I was quite surprised when I was five kilometres from home and realized sub-four was still possible and, in fact, quite probable. That gave me a lift. I was very relieved and quite a bit happy when I crossed the finish line there in sub-four.
16: How did you celebrate?
EW: I really didn’t. I just came home on the train, had supper with my wife. We had a bottle of wine and watched the TV. That was it.
17: Any other runners in your family these days?
EW: My eldest son still runs, but he’s injured at the moment and hasn’t run since the indoor season earlier this year. My younger son gave up on competitive running about the time he left school. He decided it was all silly. All he does now is a bit of jogging in the winter.
18: What about your Brooks shoes? How old are they?
EW: I’m not really sure how old they are. They’re about 20 years old, the pair I wore on Sunday. I’ve been wearing them for about 20 years. But I have other pairs of the same model. So they’re not the only shoes I’ve used for racing, but they are the ones that are the most worn down. I like them in comparison to modern racing shoes. Modern racing shoes seem stiffer. Mine are much more flexible, not just because of wear but because they were designed that way. I ran without socks Sunday, and that was the first time I did that for a marathon. My feet were very comfortable, and I don’t have any blisters to show for it. I didn’t want to have soaking wet socks.
19: Can you further reduce the record in subsequent marathons?
EW: I doubt it, because when you get to my advanced age, the ability to do any better leaks out quite rapidly with every day that passes. So I won’t be able to run another marathon until at best next spring. By that time, another half a year will have passed and a bit more potential leakage would have occurred. But it could be possible. If I had the ideal preparation for this marathon, I could have run faster.
20: What advice do you have for people striving to stay active as they get older?
EW: I don’t give people advice. I believe everybody has to decide what is best for them. I don’t believe I know what is best for anybody else. I’m not too sure I know what’s good for me, but I certainly don’t know what’s good for anyone else. I’m always willing to talk about what I do. If anybody else is idiot enough to want to do that, that’s fine. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody else.