Top one-liners from Ed Whitlock at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

He’s old but he’s not slowing down any time soon. And it turns out he’s a bit of a wisecracker too.

Ed Whitlock is 85 years old but this morning in Toronto, he ran the full marathon, finished it in under four hours and set yet another record. It’s just one of many to add to his collection.

Whitlock only just decided to commit to the full 42.2K a few weeks ago when he worked his way up to running three hours in training. Today, he ran 3:56 to break the world record for men in the 85-89 age group. That’s a record he took down by over 30 minutes.

See the more details on Ed Whitlock’s race here. 

After his race, he pulled out some real classic one-liners in his post race interviews. Here’s the best of what he said:

On the marathon struggle: “I didn’t feel at all happy at 25K… I really was thinking that this was going to be an absolute disaster.”

How so? “My legs were getting pretty heavy and I wasn’t running freely then. I consciously eased back. I thought it was going to be bad.”

How old is your singlet? “I don’t know.” *long pause.* “Maybe 30 years? Older than my shoes.”

What about your shoes? “They’re vintage.”

His shoes might be older than him!! “They’re vintage” -Ed Whitlock #stwm @BrooksRunningCA @brooksrunning pic.twitter.com/yDaUppe5Lx

— CanadaRunningSeries (@RunCRS) October 16, 2016

Do you feel pressure to set a record every time you race? “Well you don’t want to disgrace yourself!”

What are your thoughts on breaking four hours? “Somehow I just held it together and die the ultimate death.”

In other discussions about his shoes, Whitlock said that he carves off the sole of the heels so that he can lengthen his stride. He also made a point of saying that he strongly dislikes stiff shoes and said something to the tune of: What’s the point of building up the sole if you’re just going to wear them back down again?

Fair point.