News & Releases >> 2005 >> Sep 20 2005
NEWS Sep 20 2005
Diane Palmason to go after W65+ marathon mark on Toronto Waterfront this Sunday
TORONTO. 20 September 2005.
Diane Palmason has confirmed that she will be joining Ed Whitlock in this Sunday's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and will be gunning for a new Canadian women's 65+ marathon record on the flat, fast, Lakeshore course. The current mark is 3 hours 51 minutes 44 seconds.
Now a resident of Blaine, Washington, Palmason began her illustrious running career in 1976. She was one of the leading figures in Canadian marathoning, and in promoting women's distance running in the first "running boom" of the 1980's. Together with Kathleen Switzer, the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon, and Ken Parker of the Ottawa Lions, Palmason was instrumental in bringing the Avon Running Circuit for Women to Ottawa (then her hometown), with the Avon Women's International Championship Marathon in 1981. Together, they were part of an international movement that culminated in the establishment of the women's marathon in the Olympic Games, at Los Angeles in 1984.
Diane is currently holder of several Canadian Masters marathon records: 45+ (2:46:21) 55+ (3:14) and 60+ (3:16:29). In 2003, she also broke four World Records on the track—400m, 800m, 1500m, the mile, and set new Canadian marks for 100m, 200m and the marathon.
Diane will also be speaking at the Waterfront Marathon EXPO in the Metro Convention Centre, Exhibit Hall C, on Front Street, on Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. Her session is on "First Marathons".