At 70 years old, Jennifer MacDonell is still chasing personal bests and showing that age is no barrier to breaking records. The Ottawa runner made history at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, completing the 42.2-kilometre race in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds. The performance set a new world-best time for women aged 70 to 74, pending official ratification. “I was ecstatic and joyful and giggly,” she said, describing the moment she realized what she’d accomplished. For MacDonell, the achievement was the culmination of decades of running, years of training and a belief that there’s no reason to slow down simply because you’re getting older. “It was sort of unbelievable. It was like, a world record. I’m really a world record holder.” MacDonell didn’t grow up as a competitive athlete. She started running in her mid-30s, heading out along the Rideau Canal near the Rideau Centre with a modest goal. “If I can make 15 minutes today, I’ll be happy,” she recalled thinking. What started as a short jog eventually turned into a lifelong passion. She began entering races, including 10-kilometre events and half-marathons, before taking on some of the world’s most recognizable marathon courses. Over the years, she’s run more than 20 marathons, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. These days, her training routine is just as impressive. MacDonell says she runs most days of the week, sometimes seven days. She also works with coach Steve Boyd, who has coached successful athletes from varsity level to the Olympics. “I think one of the things that I’ve always been curious about is research. If I hear about a fad, I never jump on the bandwagon, I always wait, I look it up and I see, well, what do they really mean?” she said. When it came to setting a world record, however, there was no shortage of pressure. MacDonell says she knew she had to believe in herself, even when the goal seemed daunting. “Of course, you have self pressure when you put a goal of a world record out there. There is a lot of pressure, and I worried about it in one sense. But at the same time, I thought, ‘you got this.’ You have to have a little bit of umph and really believe you can do something to accomplish that goal,” she said. During the marathon, she focused on maintaining an even pace and not getting ahead of herself. When she finally crossed the finish line, the reality of what she’d done began to sink in. MacDonell says the excitement was overwhelming, but she’s not interested in treating the record as a reason to slow down. In fact, she took part in a half-marathon and is riding in the Road2Hope half-marathon event in Hamilton on Nov. 1, setting a new Canadian record for women 70-74 years old. Her husband Norman Marcotte is also an endurance athlete, who has competed in Ironman races as well as marathon. The two met through the love of the sport. “We had a common interest, and we had many common values. So, it’s been great over the 30 years we’ve been together been able to train together, support each other.” He says his wife is an inspiration. “Totally amazing and very inspiring. She’s been training so much over the last marathon cycle. She inspires me to train harder. And it’s been a really motivating,” says Marcotte. For MacDonell, the bigger message is about challenging the assumptions people make about getting older. “I think so many people, when they’re older, they just limit themselves,” she said. Her advice is to keep challenging those expectations, set goals and take things one step at a time. While a world record is certainly something worth celebrating, MacDonell says it’s important to take the time to appreciate the accomplishment. “You don’t get a world record every day, really. You have to be thoughtful and enjoy it.”
