Running News Daily

Five times runners proved that age is just a number

We know that running is a sport for anyone, regardless of age, but it can still be quite surprising when senior citizens throw down amazing race results. The rest of us can only hope to be able to put our bodies through running races when we reach our 80s, 90s and beyond. There have been so many times that older athletes have wowed the running community, but here are five from the past few years that really impressed us. 

The 93-year-old road runner 

Canio Polosa of London, Ont., is the owner of multiple Canadian masters records in the M90 division. In 2021, then 93, Polosa broke the 5K record at a Halloween road race in London, where he ran 36:30. Just a few months later in April 2022, he ran another London race, this time a 10K, and although he was hoping to get anywhere under an hour and 20 minutes, he ran an amazing 1:14:04. This time was the 10K Canadian record, and he also beat the five-mile and 8K M90 records en route to the finish. 

Running and jumping into the record books

Canadian Carol Lafayette-Boyd was named 2022 World Masters Athlete of the year after breaking a whopping six world records in the W80 age division last year. She broke the outdoor 100m (16.23 seconds), 200m (34.90 seconds), long jump and triple jump records, as well as the indoor long jump and 60m dash. In her time as a masters athlete, Lafayette-Boyd has amassed an amazing 17 world records, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. 

A 90-year-old record holder 

In the summer of 2022, Australian masters athlete David Carr turned 90, and in the following months, he broke five M90 world records on the track. Carr ran a 1,500m race in 7:32.95, a 3,000m in 16:20.96, the 5,000m in 29:47.83, a 10,000m in 62:48.93 and the 2,000m steeplechase in 12:50.43. All of these times are incredible, but to truly appreciate just how fast Carr is, one needs to look at his age-graded 1,500m result. The current 1,500m world record is 3:26.00, but Carr’s age-graded time works out to 3:16.00. He may not be a household name, but Carr is a track superstar, all the same. 

Hurricane Hawkins

In 2021, American Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins became the first 105-year-old woman to race the 100m. She set a PB and world record of 1:02.95, although this was far from her first big result. Amazingly, Hawkins only started running when she turned 100, and she promptly began earning world records in the 100+ age division. 

The battle of the 105-year-olds 

Another 105-year-old woman recently broke Hawkins’ 100m world record. India’s Rambai ran the world record in June 2022 when she posted a time of 45.40 seconds. Rambai ran this time at the National Open Masters Athletics Championship in Vadodara, India, just a year after she began running competitively (that’s right–she started racing at 104). Not surprisingly, Rambai was the only runner in the 100-plus age division, but the lack of competition didn’t appear affect her motivation, and she smashed the previous world record by 17 seconds.

Canada’s fastest 90-year-old claims another national masters record

On Sunday, London, Ont. runner Canio Polosa, who currently holds the designation of Canada’s fastest 90-year-old, set the Canadian masters record over one mile, clocking 11:25.26. In fact, Polosa is the first man over 90 ever to tackle the challenge in a sanctioned race.

Before the race, Polosa told a reporter he was hoping to finish in around 10 minutes. He finished just over that, but was the first 90-year-old to set this mark, according to Canadian Masters Athletics.

Last fall, Polosa set the 90+ 5K Canadian record of 36:30 and followed up his performance with another Canadian record over 8 km and 10K in the spring. “I had a good race yesterday,” says Polosa. “I was happy to have the support of my wife, Lynne, and the enthusiasm from local runners too.”

In a post-race interview, Polosa said he was glad the mile was over with, but happy with his performance, given his recent hiccups in training. After setting the three age-group records earlier this spring, Polosa was eager to run a half-marathon in the fall. He was a month into his training when Lynne noticed he was losing some muscle mass. “He was training around 15 km several times a week, but was not fuelling enough for his runs,” Lynne says.

Unfortunately, Polosa halted his half-marathon training to figure out his nutrition. He, his wife and his doctor came to a solution to increase his calorie intake. Since Polosa refuses to drink protein shakes and smoothies, he found a solution with Lynne’s special homemade brownies.

“I make killer brownies,” Lynne claims. “It managed to do the trick.”

Polosa resumed training in mid-August and organized this one-mile race for the end of September. He’s currently training for a 5K at the end of October.

Polosa began running during his retirement, at age 60. “For eight years or so, I ran 10K’s, then I became interested in longer distances,” says Polosa. When he moved to London, he joined the London Pacers Running Club, which inspired him to run three marathons during the ’90s. Now at 93, Polosa continues to run and sets Canadian records in every race he enters.

When he is not running, Polosa enjoys working out at the gym, where he uses the cross-trainer and weight machines.

“I think he gets all his energy from afternoon power naps,” Lynne laughs. “Canio also loves to read about science and the news on the computer.”Most of all, Polosa enjoys spending time with his loved ones and Lynne, his number one fan.

He did it again, Canio Polosa sets 90+ Canadian 10K record

The 93-year old man who broke the 90-plus 5K age group record last fall added another Canadian masters record to his arsenal last weekend at the Springbank Sprint 10K in London, Ont. Canio Polosa hoped to finish the 10K race in an hour and 20 minutes but found he was faster, finishing the 10K in a new record time of 1:14:04.

According to Canadian Masters records, Polosa set the new standard for Canadian men 90+ on a certified course. His time of 1:14:04 was just over two minutes shy of Spain’s Julian Bernal Medina’s 90+ world record of 1:11:54, set at the age of 90.

After the race, Polosa mentioned to local CBC reporter Rebecca Zandbergen that he’d been training all winter for this race with a new coach, Sherry Watts. “It’s not often that you see three Canadian records in one race,” Watts says. En route to his 10K time, Polosa also broke the men’s 90+ 8K and five-mile records by 15 minutes, taking both from the great Maurice Tarrant.

Polosa began running during his retirement, at age 60. “For eight years or so, I ran 10K’s, then I became interested in longer distances,” says Polosa. When he moved to London, he joined the London Pacers Running Club, which inspired him to run three marathons during the ’90s. Now at 93, Polosa continues to run and sets Canadian records in every race he enters.

He is considering running a longer race next time. “I’m happy to be alive,” he said to Zandbergen.

Canio Polosa breaks Canadian M90+ 5K record

Canio Polosa, a 93-year-old runner living in London, Ont., smashed his own 5K Canadian Masters record on Sunday by over one minute. Polosa ran 36:30 at the Halloween Haunting 5K, which was held at Springbank Park in London, Ont.

His previous personal best was 37:41. Polosa mentioned that he was honored to have so much support, as many runners recognized him at the race. 

Polosa is a retired medicine professor at McGill University. He began to run during retirement after joining London’s Pacers Running Club, who he ran three marathons during the ’90s.

After his third marathon, Polosa took a break from running after losing the cartilage in his knees. Now at 93, Polosa is back running, wearing his knee brace and setting Canadian records after an Amazon advertisement recommendation from his wife Lynne Weaver. “They have become his best friends,” she says. 

Polosa said in a video interview with CBC London that he doesn’t know why he likes running, but he enjoys running 5K to 10K every day to embrace nature. When questioned why most people his age aren’t running, Polosa said, “Most people are not running because they don’t think they can do it.”

Polosa also holds the M90+ Canadian masters’ mile record of 11:07, which he set in June of this year, but is eager to lower it after he said he started too fast during his last attempt.