Ed Whitlock is to senior distance running what Usain Bolt is to sprinting.
The man is a machine.
Whitlock, 81, raced across the finish line at the inaugural Milton Half-Marathon in Milton, Ontario with a time of 1:38.59. Not only did that time make Whitlock a world-record holder for the 80-84 age group, the Milton native also accomplished the feat in his hometown.
Afterwards, Whitlock was mobbed with well-wishers and requests for photos.
"I’ve gotten use to it, I guess," Whitlock told InsideHamilton.com. "I’ve broken a lot of cameras over the years. Good thing film is a lot cheaper nowadays."
Whitlock's mark breaks the previous record in the 80+ age group by 29 seconds, and it is his 11th world record time. The record is made all the more impressive by the fact that Whitlock broke one of his ribs less than one year ago and did not resume training until mid-summer.
To give you a sense of how Whitlock looks in action, here's a clip from one of his race's in 2011:
Whitlock suffered from knee arthritis in 2008, and he was told he would never run again. Luckily, he didn't take the doctor's advice. Instead, he took some time off and returned to running.
In addition to setting the world record in his age group, Milton finished 41st overall out of more than 300 participants.
(H/T to Larry Brown Sports)
