Elizabeth Waywell didn't become a serious distance runner until her forties. Now in her sixties she holds eight Canadian Age Group Records in seven different road racing distances.
Waywell ran her first marathon in the late 1990s and has run 24 marathons since, including one ultramarathon. When she turned 60, she focused her training on setting the Canadian women's over 60 (W60) marathon record at the 2018 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon as it was record eligible and close to home. On her path to beating the 20-year-old W60 record with a time of 3:07:56, she also set the W60 8km record, the W60 half-marathon record and won her age group at the Boston marathon in a time of 3:20:18.
In 2018, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon doubled as the World Masters Athletics Marathon Championships. By winning her age category she also became the world champion for her age group.
“I didn't start competitive running until later in life for two reasons,” said Waywell. “First, I had more time to train and secondly, women did not, and were not supposed to run long distances when I was young. It wasn't until 1984 the women's marathon was added to the Olympics.”
Waywell continues to train and run and is currently ranked as the top Canadian marathon runner for her age group having recently completed the TCS London, England Marathon in October of 2022 with a time of 3:15:51.
Her records include:
W60: 30km – 2:23:22 (2022)
W60: 10km – 41:08 (2021)
W60: 8km – 32:52 (2021)
W60: 5 mile – 33:02 (2021)
W60: 10 mile – 1:10:7 (2019)
W60: Marathon – 3:07:56 (2018)
W60: Half marathon – 1:29:53 (2018)
W55: 30km – 2:11:52 (2014)
