Retired doctor, 93-year-old Canio Polosa was hoping to finish Saturday’s 10K race in London, Ont., in an hour and 20 minutes. He’d been training all winter and had already secured a 5K Canadian Masters Athletics record last fall.
Turns out Polosa is even faster than he thought. He finished the Springbank Sprint 10K in 1:14:04.
How does he do it?
“I just keep working, doing something that I think helps,” said a soft-spoken Polosa at the end of the race.
1:14:04! Canio Polosa sets 3 Canadian Masters records in the 90-95 age bracket. The 10K, 8K and the 5 mile. (He beat the old 8K record by 15 minutes) <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ldnont?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ldnont</a> <a href=”https://t.co/z28Z9QG797″>pic.twitter.com/z28Z9QG797</a>
—@RebeccaZandberg
“It was so much better than he expected,” said his smiling wife, Lynne Weaver, 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 it up two decades later because his knees were giving him trouble. Miraculously, Polosa rebounded in his 90s after his wife got him knee braces, and now Polosa is breaking Canadian records.
He actually snagged three new Canadian running bests on the weekend.
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The course was certified to capture Polosa’s time at the 8K and 5-mile marks too; he easily beat the 8K time and he’s the first in his age category to log times for the 5 miles and 10K distances.
“Three in one race, at least that’s efficient,” Weaver joked.
“I’m over the moon,” said Polosa’s 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 off huge calories and as you can see he can’t afford to burn off too many calories,” said Weaver of her husband who stands just 5’6″ and weighs 113 pounds.
“And he’ll probably have a power nap,” she said. “He’s kind of like a puppy. They run like mad and then they eat and go to sleep. He’s sort of like that.”
Polosa says maybe he’ll run a longer race next time.
“I’m happy to be alive,” he said.
