UPDATE: Thornhill senior won age category in Boston
Boston Marathon 'great life experience for family'

YorkRegion.com
April 22, 2014
By Marney Beck

It was a most memorable Boston Marathon for one Thornhill runner.

Yesterday, 75-year-old Keijo Taivassalo not only participated in the race as a personal “bucket list” accomplishment, but he won his age category of men 75 to 79 years old.

His son, Petja Taivassalo, a physical education teacher at Richmond Hill’s Langstaff Secondary School who accompanied his dad to Boston, proudly reported that “the weekend was one of the greatest life experiences for my family, culminating in my dad winning the 75-79 age group”.

Mr. Taivassalo senior ran his first marathon at age 40 and has run marathons around the world. He has also held various age records for running in Canada when he was in his sixties, but last year confessed to his son, a resident of Newmarket, that he dreamed of running one of the most prestigious races in the world — the Boston Marathon.

Father and son both ran the 2013 Toronto Goodlife Marathon to ensure Keijo Taivassalo qualified for Boston, and he did in record time.

“The amazing article last Thursday ... really created a great start to our adventure,” wrote Petja Taivassalo in an email. “The weekend is something that none of us will ever forget and your piece in the paper really set everything up.”

 

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