Ed Whitlock is a Canadian long-distance

Long-distance track event

Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy. These types of races are predominantly aerobic in nature and at the highest level, exceptional levels of aerobic endurance is required more than anything else...

 runner

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

, and the first person over 70 years old to run a marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 in less than three hours with a time of 2:59:10 in 2003.

Whitlock, who ran as a teenager and took the sport back up again in his 40s, first became the oldest person to run a marathon in less than 3 hours in 2000

2000 in sports

2000 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria** Women's overall season champion: Renate Götschl, Austria-American football:...

 at age 69 with a time of 2:52:47. Since then, he has continued to extend this record, most recently to age 74 with a time of 2:58:40. His best time since turning 70 was 2:54:48 at age 73, the world record

Masters Athletics World Records

These are the current world records in the various age groups of Masters athletics. Starting at age 35, each age group starts on the athlete's birthday in years that are evenly divisible by 5 and extends until the next such occurrence. For record purposes, older athletes are not included in...

 for men 70 to 74. According to The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, if age-graded this time is equivalent to a 20-year-old running 2:03.57 and is the fastest marathon ever run. For an explanation of age graded tables see masters athletics#Age-graded tables. To date (2010) he is still the only person over 70 to run a marathon in less than 3 hours.

In 2006 he set the world record for the 75 to 79 age group with a time of 3:08:35 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Toronto Waterfront Marathon

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the last Sunday in September. Starting from 2011, the marathon will be held in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race....

, and in the Rotterdam Marathon

Rotterdam Marathon

The Rotterdam Marathon is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April of every year since the third edition in 1984, and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by Runner's World...

 on April 15, 2007, Ed lowered that mark to 3:04:54.

On September 26, 2010, Whitlock ran the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon in 1:34:23.4.

After turning 80, Whitlock improved the Marathon world record for his age category by almost 15 minutes to 3:25:43 at the 2011 Rotterdam Marathon on April 10, 2011. He then further improved on his age category world record at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16, 2011, lowering the record to 3:15:54.

Whitlock also competes on the track, he currently (2010) holds 10 world age group records ranging in distances from 1500m to 10,000m and age groups 65+, 70+ and 75+. as well as the 3 age group marathon records 70+, 75+ and 80+

Whitlock was born in London, England, and later moved to Canada to pursue an engineering career following graduation from Royal School of Mines

Royal School of Mines

Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London.- History :The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851, as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts...

, Imperial College, England. He now resides in Milton, Ontario

Milton, Ontario

Milton is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Milton received a tremendous amount of awareness following the release of the results of the 2006 Census, which indicated that Milton is the fastest growing municipality in the Greater Golden...

.

Records

Outdoor - Track

Distance	Age Group	Time
1500m	Men 80-84	5:48.93
Mile:	Men 75-79	5:41.80
3000m	Men 75-79	11:10.43
3000m	Men 80-84	12:13.56	pending
5000m	Men 75-79	19:07.02
5000m	Men 80-84	21:32.87
5000m	Men 80-84	20:58.12	pending
10000m	Men 70-74	38:04.13
10000m	Men 75-79	39:25.16
10000m	Men 80-84	42:39.95

Indoor - Track

Distance	Age Group	Time
1500m	Men 75-79	5:20.04
1500m	Men 80-84	5:48.47
3000m	Men 65-69	10:11.60
3000m	Men 70-74	10:52.40
3000m	Men 75-79	11:17.21
3000m	Men 80-84	12:00.88

Outdoor - Road

Distance	Age Group	Time
Marathon	Men 70-74	2:54:48
Marathon	Men 75-79	3:04:54
Marathon	Men 80-84	3:25:43
Marathon	Men 80-84	3:15:54	pending

In addition to the records above recognised by World Masters Athletics

World Masters Athletics

World Masters Athletics is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age....

 the Association of Road Race Statisticians keeps single and group age road records. Whitlock's age group records recognized by ARRS follow.

Outdoor - Road

Distance	Age Group	Time
10K	Men 70-74	37:33
10K	Men 75-79	40:10
15K	Men 65-69	55:04
15K	Men 70-74	58:19
15K	Men 75-79	1:00:19
Half Marathon	Men 70-74	1:22:23
Half Marathon	Men 75-79	1:29:26
Marathon	Men 70-74	2:54:48
Marathon	Men 75-79	3:04:54
Marathon	Men 80-84	3:15:54