Maureen "Moe" Wilton (born November 30, 1953) is a former Canadian long-distance runner who is recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as having set a world best in the marathon on May 6, 1967, with a time of 3:15:23 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1][2][nb 1] Wilton, who started running when she was nine years old, was 13 when she set the mark; it was her first marathon and run on an unpaved Eastern Canadian Marathon Championships course.[1] [6][7] Her time broke the previous record, set in 1964, by more than four minutes.[7]
Wilton was coached by Thian "Sy" Mah.[1][6][7] Mah would complete his first marathon that day, then go on to set a Guinness World Records mark for the most lifetime marathons.[6][8] Invited by Mah, Kathrine Switzer also ran the marathon that day - only sixteen days after her historic run at the Boston Marathon.[6] Wilton reportedly told Switzer, who finished about an hour behind her, that she was interested in The Monkees more than running.[6][7]
Wilton stopped running at the age of 17, though she did compete at the World Cross-Country Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, when she was 15.[1][7][6]
As an adult, Wilton worked in the financial industry, has two children, and is married (now known as Maureen Mancuso).[6] Only when her daughter began competitive running did Wilton take up the sport again and share her running history with her.[7] Wilton and Switzer ran the Toronto GoodLife Half Marathon together in 2010, the reunion documented by John Chipman in a CBC Radio documentary entitled "Did my Mom ever Run?"[7][1]
A book about her life and achievement, Mighty Moe: The True Story of a Thirteen-Year-Old Women's Running Revolutionary, was released on October 15, 2019.[7]
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