Secrets of a 85-year marathon champ

   My wife e-mailed me an article from the Dec. 28th New York Times, and titled it: "This is the Future You." Boy, I wish!
   The article is about Ed Whitlock of Milton, Ontario. It's called "85-year-Old Marathoner Is So Fast That Even Scientists Marvel." Reading it, I could understand why.
   In October, Whitlock became the oldest person to run the 26.2-mile event in under four hours, completing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3:56.34.
  Part of what appealed to me (and I think my wife sensed it) is the simplicity and purity of his training.  No coach. No heart-rate or mileage gadgetry. No special diet or training formula. No pre-hab or rehab of any sort. Old sneakers. No stretching, and no medication, other than a supplement for his achy knees.
   He's a self-reliant sort, gardening and shoveling snow, but has no strength-training regimen, otherwise.
   What does he do? Lots of running - 3 to 3.5 hours at a time, around a loop in a local cemetery.   He doesn't do it everyday, but for a 2:54.48 marathon at age 73 in 2004, he completed 43 training runs of three-hours each, approximately 20 miles long each time. That time, adjusted for age, would be a 2:04:48, just two minutes off the current world record of 2:02.57.
   Like everyone (but less so!) age has slowed him. His pace this year was 9:01 a mile at the Toronto Marathon, while at age 73, he was doing an unbelievable 6:40 pace.
   Also like other veteran runners, injuries have crept in - shoulder, knee, hip and groin. Before his most recent marathon he did "only" 16 of the 3-plus hour runs, which may make his finish that much more remarkable.
   Okay, what makes Whitlock such an anomoly? A few factors. First, he's naturally talented. As a youngster growing up in London, Whitlock recorded a 4;34 mile. An Achilles injury ended his early running career, and due to work responsibilities and the fact "no one else was running," Whitlock cycled, walked, and refereed soccer upon moving to Canada, and didn't resume running until age 41.
    This may be another reason for Whitlock's later success, as scientists feel his two decade layoff saved valuable wear and tear on his joints.
      A third factor is Whitlock's size. While underweight by any reasonable standards, he is 5-7 and weighs between 110 and 112 lbs, not unlike the top marathoners in the world. He also has amazing genetics. Tested at McGill University at age 81, Whitlock had a V02 (the maximum amount of oxygen that can be consumed and used by muscles during exercise) max of 54. An average reading for an independent 81-year old is 20, while an Olympic long-distance runner or skier might score a 90. Whitlock's reading of 54 is considered unsurpassed for his age.
   Whitlock also has retained a remarkable amount of his muscle mass, as pictures of him running in his 20's do not look very dissimilar to him today. An average person will lose 30 to 40% of their muscle mass in those 60 years - one of the more frustrating aspects of aging!
    Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic, who studies performance and aging, feels Whitlock and other aging athletes haven't lost their "inner 13-year old." Although Whitlock, like most distance runners, is somewhat introverted, he still has a curiosity and passion about life that gets him out the door in the cold Canadian air for his long runs.
   Maybe it's part of his British upbringing, but Whitlock is very matter-of-fact about it all. He admits he likes the attention of setting records. He claims not to feel a "runner's high" and doesn't even run for his health.  I smiled when I read that racing brings him as much apprehension as joy.
   "The real feeling of enjoyment, he stated, is getting across the finish line and finding out that you've done O.K"
    I couldn't state it any better!