95-year-old Winnipeg man hopes to sprint past Canadian record

A 95-year-old Winnipeg man hopes after blowing out the candles on his birthday cake Tuesday, he'll blow by the competition and break a Canadian record in the 100-metre dash later this month.

Lou Billinkoff came to running a bit late in life — he began when he was 89 years old. He had suffered a heart attack and entered the cardiac program at the Reh-Fit Centre.

"I was walking the track and I thought that I would try running, and I enjoyed it, and continued to do so," said Billinkoff.

"I've always known that I'm a good runner, but I'd never done anything with it," he said.

Before then he'd never set foot on a track, or played any sports.

"I was very bad at them, very bad at sports. Nobody wanted me on their team," he said.

The retired electrical engineer competed in the Manitoba Age Class Championships the last few years in the 90-94 age group.

But now that he's officially a 95-year-old, he's in a whole different class — and hopes to set a record when he once again competes at the championships at the University of Manitoba later this month.

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"Until today [Tuesday], I've been in a different age class, and in that age class the people are kind of faster than 95 to 99," said Billinkoff.

Billinkoff's average time for the 100-metre dash is around 28.29 seconds. The current Canadian record in the 95-plus age group is one minute, 18 seconds, the Canada Games Sport for Life Centre in Winnipeg said in a media release — a time Billinkoff should easily beat.

According to the World Masters Rankings, last year's fastest runner in the 100-metre dash in the 95-99 age class was 25.10 seconds, and the second fastest time was 29.73.

Breaking record 'not going to change my life'

On Tuesday, Billinkoff met up with his coach at the Canada Games Sport for Life Centre to celebrate his birthday, and his entrance into the new age class.

He ran a 50-metre sprint in 14.4 seconds — a pace that would put him at 28.8 seconds for the 100 metre.

"When I do 28.8 I'm not happy with that, but that's the way it goes," said Billinkoff.

He says it would be nice to break a record, but it's not everything.

"It's a sense of achievement, but it's not that important. It's not going to change my life."

'You gotta be lucky'

Billinkoff says he keeps running because he enjoys it.

"It's been a hell of a lot of fun. I just enjoyed it so much."

About two months ago, Billinkoff approached Sheldon Reynolds, a performance running coach at the Sport for Life Centre, and asked if he would help him improve his time.

"He said 'I'm 94 years old and I want to run a faster 100 metres,' and I was shocked," said Reynolds.

"He was asking me about starting blocks, whether they'd be helping."

"And I said, 'No, at your age it would take a little while to get out of the starting block position, so it's better to do the Lou Leap," said Reynolds with a laugh, referring to Billinkoff's signature starting style, which doesn't involve crouching to start his run.

Reynolds attributes Billinkoff's success to his diligent training, running three times a week and regularly running the 100-metre sprint.

He also trains once a week with Reynolds.

"That's what's unique about Lou, is it shows what's possible. People should get out and try it," he said.

Billinkoff says his good health and longevity are due to a clean lifestyle — and a bit of chance.

"I don't do any of those things that you're warned against. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't eat fried food," he said.

At the same time, "you gotta be lucky. I've been extremely lucky — all my life I've been extremely well."