After quitting sprinting at 19, Ottawa’s Wendy Alexis returned to the sport at 50. Now 71, she’s one of Canada’s top Masters sprinters and a multi-time age-group world record holder. This season, she has ambitious goals: reclaim the 100m W70 record, deliver at August’s World Masters Championships and line up in the open 100m at Canadian nationals.
An unreal resume
Alexis long hovered near age-group records, but since entering the W70 division last year, she’s been rewriting them. At the 2025 World Masters Indoor Championships, she broke the W70 200m world record twice in one day (30.68, then 30.33) and anchored Canada’s W65 4x200m team to a world record of 2:07.42. In June, she took the W70 100m world record, clocking 14.63.
Photo: ShaggysPhotos.com
In January, Alexis broke Canadian masters legend Karla Del Grande‘s W70 60m world record–and then, a few weeks later, lowered the mark again, running 9.07 seconds. On Wednesday, Athletics Canada awarded Alexis the Earl Fee Award for her 2025 performances.
Back on the track
When Alexis talks about the keys to success in Masters athletics, she quotes 97-year-old Ontario masters star Earl Fee: “Slow down slower than everyone else.”
A sprinter growing up, Alexis stepped away at 19 due to injuries. Later in life, her son joined the Ottawa Lions–and told her to join the “old people.”
“I didn’t know there was masters track, especially in Ottawa,” Alexis told Canadian Running. “If you were running at an older age, it was always 5K and up.” She began training again at 50, and has been competing for the past 21 years.
Prioritizing recovery
Injuries are part of the game, Alexis says, but with age, training takes a bigger toll on your body. “Like everybody else, we get injured, and we deal with it,” she said. “The difference is, I take a lot longer to get back.” Training alongside athletes aged 17 to 25 has made that contrast clear: where they might need six weeks to recover, she could take six months.
Photo: ShaggysPhotos.com
Physio and rehab have become a priority, rather than something Alexis only turns to after injury. She sets aside an extra hour each day for cycling and stretching, and sees her physiotherapist every few weeks.
The structured approach has also eased her mental load. “Someone else, who has so much more expertise, is calling the shots,” she said. “I just provide the legs.” Despite being told she was “done,” Alexis said the added focus on recovery has given her an edge that she didn’t have before.
Balancing training and life
Alexis’s schedule is demanding: access to track time in Ottawa is limited, and training sometimes includes a seven-hour round trip to St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. Between the track, weight room, pool and bike, she trains around 20 hours per week. Outside of sport, she cares for her grandchildren and volunteers at the local high school.
“If I had younger kids, there is no way I could’ve done this,” she admitted. “I’m grateful now that I’m retired.”
Master’s environment
Alexis describes masters athletics as an inclusive, encouraging community. Her main “rival,” Del Grande, is a very close friend–her “track sister.” Even at world championships, the women are incredibly supportive and celebrate everyone.
Alexis lists three reasons why she keeps showing up: for good health, because she can, and to encourage those who are watching to do it, too.
One of the most meaningful moments of her career came at last year’s national championships in Toronto, when Del Grande brought footage of their race to the hospital to show Alexis’s mom, who was ill. “It really speaks to the sisterhood and community we have in masters sport,” Alexis said. “We’re a family.”
Wendy Alexis at the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships. Photo: ShaggysPhotos.com
Seasonal and lifelong goals
Another W70 runner has since broken Alexis’s 100m world record, running 14.37–but the Canadian plans to take it back this season. She also hopes to have a strong showing at the world championships in South Korea in August.
The Canadian track championships will be hosted in June by the Ottawa Lions. “I want to run the 100m in the open division at 71,” Alexis said. “I’m not going to get that opportunity again–it would be exciting just to be there.” It’s a big goal, but doable: the women’s standard is 14.00, but sometimes, other runners can be invited to run if there are empty lanes.
Alexis has one fundamental goal: to run for the rest of her life. “Running makes me breathe, makes me free, and makes me a kid again, playing with my friends,” she said. “What could be better than that?”