70-year-old Ottawa woman sets new marathon world record

When Jennifer MacDonell laced up her shoes at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon earlier this month, she was determined to make history.

A little over three hours later, the 70-year-old Ottawa woman did just that.

MacDonell set a new marathon world record for women aged 70-74, crossing the finish line on Oct. 18 with a time of 3:23:59.

That's more than three minutes faster than the previous record of 3:27:00 set by France's Laurence Dupont Alnet in 2024. 

"I was ecstatic and relieved at the same time — and exhausted," MacDonell said with a laugh. 

She's had her eyes on taking the record since the spring, tweaking her physical and mental training to improve her time by about six minutes with the help of her coach, Steve Boyd. 

"I wouldn't say I knew I could do this. I knew I had a chance of doing it, because you never know until that day," she said. 

Jennifer MacDonell said the race became a mental game during the final two kilometres as she suffered a calf cramp. (Marathon Photos Live)

On race day, as the finish line inched closer, MacDonell said the pressure only got more intense.

"I was thinking the whole time, is this going to happen? Is this going to happen?" she recalled.

With two kilometres left in the race, she said it turned into a mental game.

"I had started to get a little cramp in my calf muscle and I thought, no, you're not going to do this right now. You are not. I'm just going to keep going. I'm going to stay positive."

As she climbed the final hill, with about 200 metres to go, she began pumping her fists in the air, knowing she was moments away from reaching her goal. 

Afterwards, she and her husband Norman, who was also running in the race, treated themselves to a glass of wine — and then some