I’m a pretty healthy guy, but sometimes I get halfway up a flight of steps and consider lying down and napping it off. The guy in the turban and the not-exactly-matching track suit is Fauja Singh, a shoot 100-year old man who completed the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in close to eight hours, making him the oldest person to finish the 26.2-mile race. It’s official: I’ve lost my last excuse, and now must come to terms with the fact that I’m terrible and bad at everything.
From NBC New York:
It was the eighth marathon for Singh, who was born India in 1911 and did not start running marathons until he was 89, after he moved to England following the death of his wife and son. He says not smoking or drinking alcohol throughout his life, combined with a vegetarian diet and up to 10 miles of walking or running per day are the secrets to his health.
“He says no one is forcing him to do it. It’s his desire to do it,” coach and translator Harmander Singh said Sunday in an interview with CNN. “He wanted to do one when he’s 100 and today’s the day.”
I like that they included the statement from his trainer, as if he was a Toddler in a Tiara and was being forced to jog for eight hours. Anyway, Singh’s 8:25.17 put him six hours behind the winner, 38-year old Kenneth Mungara of Kenya, and the “Sikhs in the City” shirt he wore for the race is proof that he’s legitimately 100. The run not only gets him a story on NBC New York and national coverage as an inspiration but a spot in the Guinness Book Of World Records, topping the previous Oldest Marathoner, Dimitrion Yordanidis, a 98-year old who ran in Athens in 1976.
You can check out footage of him finishing up the race after the jump.
Congratulations, Mr. Singh, you’re better at life than anyone else in the news today.
