TORONTO - Decorated marathon runner Ed Whitlock, who famously smashed several senior records, has died just days after his 86th birthday.
According to Canada Running Series, Whitlock's family says he died today in a Toronto hospital.
The family says he had prostate cancer.
The British-born resident of Milton, Ont., who turned 86 last week, became the first septuagenarian to run a marathon in under three hours when he posted a time of two hours 59 minutes 10 seconds at age 72 at the 2003 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
A year later he improved that record with a time of 2:54:49.
Eventually he set world master's marathon records for age 75-plus, 80-plus and, most recently, 85-plus with a time of 3:56:38 on Oct. 16 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
