Lenore Montgomery
May 28, 1930 - October 14, 2026
After raising seven children (two of whom were adopted), Lenore Montgomery needed another outlet for her energy. So, at an age when most grandmothers take off their shoes and rest their feet, she laced-up her running shoes to join her daughter Carol, who was training for the Triathlon. Lenore's very first road race was a Stanley Park 5K run. As she ran out of the shadows into the hot sun, she thought, “I can't do this.” But she did, and during the next 35 years Lenore competed in more than 500 road races (according to Carol, “some years she might have run 40 races or more”).
It is unsure when Lenore first competed on the track, but at the 1991 Coquitlam BC Seniors Games she set a Canadian Masters track record in the W60 1500m. She broke another Canadian record in the W70 5000m at the 2003 BC Senior Games in Chilliwack. Results are not available for most of the first dozen years of the BC Seniors Games, but in the fifteen years from 2001 to 2015, Lenore competed in every Games except the 2005 Games in Cowichan. In these fourteen Games, she entered 58 events and won 55 gold medals.
In 2005, Lenore broke Canadian records in the W75 800m, 1500m and 5000m, and then a year later, while competing in her second Canadian Masters Championships at Dieppe, New Brunswick, she won gold medals in the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m (breaking the W75 Canadian record in this event).
When Lenore became an octogenarian, her assault on the record books exploded. In 2010, she broke Canadian records in the W80 1500m and 5000m on the track and the 10K on the road. The following year, Lenore broke the W80 Indoor World Record in the 1500m, and again at Carlsbad, California, she got a W80 World Best in the 5K Road Race (because courses vary, a record in road racing is called a Road Best). That year she broke six Canadian track records (2 indoors and 4 outdoors). She also set
World Bests in the 5K (twice), set a Canadian 10K Road Best and won the 5K road race at the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For her accomplishments, BC Athletics honoured Lenore as the 2011 Female Road Runner of the Year.
In the following two years, Lenore added two more world records and eight more Canadian records (including the 5000m in 28:11.96 – age-graded at 101.89%). Her world records were in 2012 when she improved her own W80 1500m Indoor world record and in 2013 when she was a member of the Canadian relay team that broke the world record in the W70 4x800m (Lenore was 83). In 2013, Lenore was chosen as the Greyhounds' Inspirational Athlete-of-the-Year for breaking three records, as well as for winning four golds at both the BC Masters Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and five golds at both the Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships and the 55+ BC Games.
But the best was still to come. After missing all of the 2014 season due to injuries suffered from a fall during a training run (and being bitten by a Pit Bull while delivering papers), and also missing the first six months of 2015 after undergoing surgery to remove her appendix (along with a mass of healing tissue), Lenore made an incredible comeback. Competing in only two meets, she broke four W85 Canadian Masters records and two World Records in the 800m (4:33.86) and 5000m. What makes her 5000m world record so amazing is that Lenore was warming up on the far side of the track, unaware that her race was about to start. Hearing the starting gun, she ran across the infield, getting to the starting line when the clock was already at 47 seconds. Lenore completed her 5000m race in a time of 32:36.20, breaking the world record of 32:51.05. Had she started on time, she would have broken the world record by a full minute. Additionally, Lenore had World Bests in the Vancouver Longest Day 5K and the Victoria 8K road races. BC Athletics named Lenore the 2015 Female Masters Track Athlete-of-the-Year and CMA named her the Individual Track AOY as well as a finalist for the Non-Stadia AOY.
After raising seven children (two of whom were adopted), Lenore Montgomery needed another outlet for her energy. So, at an age when most grandmothers take off their shoes and rest their feet, she laced-up her running shoes to join her daughter Carol, who was training for the Triathlon. Lenore's very first road race was a Stanley Park 5K run. As she ran out of the shadows into the hot sun, she thought, “I can't do this.” But she did, and during the next 35 years Lenore competed in more than 500 road races (according to Carol, “some years she might have run 40 races or more”).
It is unsure when Lenore first competed on the track, but at the 1991 Coquitlam BC Seniors Games she set a Canadian Masters track record in the W60 1500m. She broke another Canadian record in the W70 5000m at the 2003 BC Senior Games in Chilliwack. Results are not available for most of the first dozen years of the BC Seniors Games, but in the fifteen years from 2001 to 2015, Lenore competed in every BC Seniors Games except the 2005 Games in Cowichan. In these fourteen Games, she entered 58 events and won 55 gold medals.
In 2005, Lenore broke Canadian records in the W75 800m, 1500m and 5000m, and then a year later, while competing in her second Canadian Masters Championships at Dieppe, New Brunswick, she won gold medals in the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and 10000m (breaking the W75 Canadian record in this event).
When Lenore became an octogenarian, her assault on the record books exploded. In 2010 she broke Canadian records in the W80 1500m and 5000m on the track and the 10K on the road. The following year Lenore broke the W80 Indoor World Record in the 1500m, and again at Carlsbad, California, she got a W80 World Best in the 5K Road Race (because courses vary, a record in road racing is called a Road Best). That year she broke six Canadian track records (2 indoors and 4 outdoors). She also set
World Bests in the 5K (twice), set a Canadian 10K Road Best and won the 5K road race at the WMA Championships in Sacramento. For her accomplishments, BC Athletics honoured Lenore as the 2011 Female Masters Road Runner of the Year.
In the following two years, Lenore added two more world records and eight more Canadian records (including the 5000m in 28:11.96 – age-graded at 101.89% at that time). Her world records were in 2012 when she improved her own W80 1500m Indoor world record and in 2013 when she was a member of the Canadian relay team that broke the world record in the W70 4x800m (Lenore was 83). In 2013, Lenore was chosen as the Greyhounds' Inspirational Athlete-of-the-Year for breaking three records, as well as for winning four golds at both the BC Masters Indoor and Outdoor Championships, and five golds at both the Canadian Masters Outdoor Championships and the 55+ BC Games.
But the best was still to come. After missing all of the 2014 season due to injuries suffered from a fall during a training run and being bitten by a Pit Bull while delivering papers, and also missing the first six months of 2015 after undergoing surgery to remove her appendix (along with a mass of healing tissue), Lenore made an incredible comeback. Competing in only two meets, she broke four W85 Canadian Masters records and two World Records in the 800m (4:33.86) and 5000m. What makes her 5000m world record so amazing is that Lenore was warming up on the far side of the track, unaware that her race was about to start. Hearing the starting gun, she ran across the infield, getting to the starting line when the clock was already at 47 seconds. Lenore completed her 5000m race in a time of 32:36.20, breaking the world record of 32:51.05. Had she started on time, she would have broken the world record by a full minute. Additionally, Lenore had World Bests in the Vancouver Longest Day 5K and the Victoria 8K road races. BC Athletics named Lenore the 2015 Female Masters Track Athlete-of-the-Year and CMA named her the Individual Track AOY as well as a finalist for the Non-Stadia AOY.
As memorable as her 2015 season was, her 2016 season was just as spectacular. Competing in the BC
Masters Indoor Championships, Lenore broke World Records in the 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m.
Committed to looking after her ailing husband she competed in only one outdoor meet, the Canadian Masters Championships in Toronto where she won gold in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m. Remarkably, on the road Lenore broke both of her 5K and 8K World Best times from the previous year. Again, BC Athletics named Lenore as the Female Masters Track AOY and CMA named her as the runner-up (to Ed Whitlock) for Individual Track AOY.
Lenore continued to break records in 2017. Now at age 87 she broke her own Canadian record in the
400m and set a new World Record in the W85 3000m (19:58.05). Travelling to compete in the Carlsbad 5000, perhaps her favourite road race, she broke the W85 5K Road Best for the third consecutive year, this time in 34:23. In 2020, due to difficulties coping with Covid-19, Lenore competed in only one race, her Greyhounds' In-Club track meet, where she set Canadian W90 records in the 800m and 1500m (the 1500m was also a new World Record). No AOY awards were given out that year but BC Athletics honoured Lenore with a 2020 Recognition Award for her “Outstanding Athletic Performance.”
Lenore was a very dedicated athlete and an inspiration to everyone. Carol wrote, “I (was) always in awe at the number of people that approach(ed) her…to say how she inspired them.” Lenore was totally committed, whether going for a long run by herself or doing track training with her much younger teammates. Despite all of her successes and awards, she remained extremely humble. She was such a sweet lady, always so pleasant. The retired teacher was also “passionate about opera” and an avid gardener who loved to work in her flower and vegetable gardens.
Lenore was inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012 and the BC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
