HEROES-Ed Whitlock

As you get older, it gets easier to throw in the towel. You decide that you just can't do shit anymore, so you resign yourself to geezerdom and quit trying. You accept that the best part of your life is behind you, and you coast on down the hill. If this seems sad and pathetic, I agree. As a person entering his forties, I have been looking to people much older than me for vision and inspiration. These are people who are still kicking it strong and doing amazing shit in their fifties, sixties, seventies, and beyond. No one typifies this robust aging better than now 80+ Ed Whitlock.

Ed Whitlock is a marathoner. He has a sub-3 marathon to his credit. This is not that big of a deal until you realize he is the only person over age 70 to accomplish the feat. When you consider that people half his age don't even have the stones to complete a marathon much less go sub-3, it is an impressive feat. Whitlock did it by logging 100 mile weeks in training. His time rivaled that of Lance Armstrong when he ran his marathon.

Not everything is peaches and cream for Ed. He struggles with arthritic knees. He is an old guy. But you get the impression that he is doing a bit of humility whining. Upon turning 80, Ed completed the Rotterdam Marathon in a now world record time of 3:25:40 shaving 15 minutes off the old world record for that age group. He gets slower as he gets older, but he is still as competitive as ever even if most of the competition is now dead.

Ed ran in school, but he did not return to running in a serious way until he was 40 years old after a fifteen year absence. The guy made his living essentially pushing paper as an engineer in Canada. Running was something he started doing even before the first running boom. He was already middle aged when he decided to become awesome. He did not really catch the world's attention until his sixties when he started setting records for his age group. Then, he went sub-3 for a 70-year-old.

Whitlock is much respected in the world of running. Younger Kenyans flock to him amazed at his achievements. Most people would be glad to still be walking unaided at Whitlock's age. The guy shows what robust aging should be.

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