Retired doctor Canio Polosa, 93, hoped to complete Saturday’s 10k race in London, Ont., in an hour and 20 minutes. He had been training all winter and had already set a Canadian 5 km record in masters track and field last fall.
It turns out that Polosa is even faster than he thought. He finished the Springbank Sprint 10K in 1:14:04.
How is it?
“I keep working, doing something that I think helps,” Polosa said softly as the race ended.
1:14:04! Canio Polosa set 3 Canadian Masters records in the 90-95 age group. 10K, 8K and 5 miles. (It broke the old 8K record by 15 minutes) #ldnont pic.twitter.com/z28Z9QG797
“It was so much better than he expected,” his smiling wife, Lynne Weaver, said at the finish line. “I didn’t know what to expect and it’s fabulous. It’s really exciting.”
Polosa started running at the age of 60 but was forced to give up two decades later because his knees were causing him problems. Miraculously, Polosa bounced back into his 90s after his wife gave him knee braces, and now Polosa is breaking Canadian records.
He actually set three new Canadian race records over the weekend.
The course has also been certified to capture Polosa’s time at the 8K and 5 mile marks; he easily beat the 8km time and is the first in his age group to record times over the 5 mile and 10 km distances.
“Three in one run, at least it’s efficient,” joked Weaver.
“I’m over the moon,” said Polosa coach Sherry Watts. “I think he’s been training really well all winter, and he’s just a very determined person. I think having Lynne behind him probably helps a lot too.”
“I’m going to feed him like crazy because he’s burned huge calories and as you can see he can’t afford to burn too many calories,” Weaver said of her husband, who is only tall. 5 feet 6 inches and weighs 113 pounds. .
“And he’ll probably take a power nap,” she said. “He’s kind of like a puppy. They run around like crazy, then they eat and fall asleep. He’s kind of like that.”
Polosa says he might do a longer race next time.
“I’m happy to be alive,” he said.
