She’s just broken the world record for marathon running for her age group, but don’t even think about asking 80-year-old Gwen McFarlan if she’s having a wee rest.
“Why would I do that,” a puzzled McFarlan told the News Monday when asked about how she’s feeling following her exploits at the Ottawa Marathon last week.
“I’m feeling great; I did 30 minutes last week and this morning I did an hour.”
Tireless McFarlan — a member of Kajacks athletic group, the Richmond Spirit Runners and The Forever Young Gang — broke the world record for the 80–84 age group in Ottawa.
In fact, she didn’t just break the record, she demolished it by a full 24 minutes, finishing in 4 hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds.
“Usually, you break records by seconds or a few minutes at most; but not Gwen,” said Forever Young Gang organizer John Young.
“We’re all very proud of her.”
A few other amazing facts for her age group during her run were:
* At the 5 K mark she broke the Canadian record for a 5 K race;
* At the 10 K mark she broke the Canadian record for a 10 K race;
* At the half marathon mark she broke the Canadian record for a half marathon.
McFarlan also came close to breaking the world record in each of those categories as well.
“We started out running in fog, then the sun came out and it was very humid,” McFarlan wrote in an email to the Forever Young Gang after the marathon.
“Many of the spectators were out with their garden hoses which I took advantage of.
“I was really beginning to feel the heat. My knee hurts, my toe feels like it is going to fall off and my legs are tired but other than that I feel great.”
McFarlan, a retired teacher, only started running at age 60 with her students at Tomsett elementary.
The octogenarian has no intention of easing off the gas and, once she returns from visiting family in the U.S., will get straight back in her weekly exercise routine of either running, trail walking or ball class every day, with only Sunday set aside for rest.
“I’ll be starting to prepare soon for the Victoria Half Marathon in October and then the full Hawaii Marathon in December.”
