World Record for Age-80 Relay Team

Canadian octogenarians, including Ed Whitlock, break 4 x 800-meter mark.

July 8, 2013

Bolstered by two of the greatest age-group runners in history, a Canadian team broke the world 4 x 800-meter record in the 80+ age group on Saturday in Toronto.

As Canadian Running reports, masters phenoms Ed Whitlock and Earl Fee were key to the quartet's success. Whitlock, age 82, ran sub-3:00 for his leg, then handed off to Fee, age 84, who anchored with a 3:04. The total time was 14:24, well under the previous mark of 16:01. (It takes nothing away from the record to point out that Whitlock, who ran 47:36 for 10-K at a hilly road race in June, could probably better the team's time.)

Whitlock is best known for his marathon exploits since he turned 70, including the 70-and-over record of 2:54:48 at age 73 and the 80-and-over world best of 3:15:54. But in his first bout of elite masters running in the 1970s, Whitlock was a middle-distance runner. He placed third in the 800 at the 1977 world masters championships and won the 1500-meter race at the 1979 world masters meet.

For Fee, the 800 is near the top of his race range. He holds the 65+ and 70+ world 800-meter records (2:14.33 and 2:20.52, respectively), and also holds two world age-group marks in the 300-meter hurdles.

The video below shows just how smoothly Whitlock runs when nearing top speed.