Dutch 'Jogger Jo' breaks over-70s record on his 75th sub-three-hour marathon

At an age when many of his contemporaries are winding down, Jo Schoonbroodt is somehow speeding up.

- Sean Ingle

On Sunday, Schoonbroodt, a 71-year-old from Maastricht, ran a marathon in a staggering 2hr 54 mins and 19 secs to become the fastest septuagenarian in history.

A few days later, his achievement was still sinkingin. “I only started jogging at 36 because my doctor told me Ihad high cholesterol,” he says. “But last year Iran 7,242 km[4,450 miles), which is more than double what I did in my car."

It also turns out that Schoonbroodt's new 70+ world record, set at the Maasmarathon of Visé in Belgium, was partly inspired by an unlikely source: the Belgian crooner Eddy Wally. With a few miles remaining, he knew he was just ahead of the previous best, set by Gene Dykes in 2018, because a friend was following him on his bike and barking out his lap times. But his legs were starting to get heavier.

“However, my friend had a special trick to keep me on track," said Schoonbroodt, who was wearing a yellow and blue kit in support of Ukraine. "He put Eddy Wally's song Chérie, Chérie on his phone on repeat. I've always loved it. It gave me a boost. I overtook one runner after another and, despite getting cramp in the final 500 metres, I was able to break the record by four seconds."