Finishes Hong Kong marathon faster than last year’s time.
Bureau Report
NEW YORK: Fauja Singh, 101, the world’s oldest marathon runner, nicknamed the ‘Turbaned Tornado,’ has run his last long distance competitive race in Hong Kong. He was a regular at the New York marathon for years.
Singh, from Ilford, East London, finished the Hong Kong 10km (6.25 mile) event in one hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds, reported the BBC.
“I will remember this day. I will miss it,” Singh said minutes after crossing the finish line.
His time at the Hong Kong marathon was half a minute faster than last year, reported The Diplomat. Not bad for a centenarian great-great grandfather.
In 2000, he ran his first London marathon and went on to compete in a further eight marathons. Earlier in the day, he said: “I am feeling a bit of happiness and a bit of sadness mixed together. I am happy that I am retiring at the top of the game but I am sad that the time has come for me to not be part of it.”
He said he would miss running in competitive races but he would run again for charity if he was needed. He became the oldest full marathon runner after finishing the 2011 Toronto marathon when he turned 100, BBC said.
But his feat was not recognized by Guinness World Records because he does not have a birth certificate to prove his age – only a passport. Singh was not a professional runner when he was young but a farmer in Punjab, India.
He moved to Britain in the 1960s, and started running when he was 89 after he lost his wife and his fifth son.
“From a tragedy has come a lot of success and happiness,” Singh said, before the race.
His best time for the full marathon was 5 hours and 40 minutes at the 2003 Toronto marathon.
At the Hong Kong marathon this week he said: “Five or six kilometers into the race, I really decided to go for it,†he told CNN. “I had lots of power today because I was very happy.†Singh, who is only fluent in Punjabi, speaks through his coach and interpreter Harmander Singh.
As his fame rose, Singh was selected to serve as a torch bearer at the 2012 Olympics. Adidas even featured him in the company’s “Impossible is Nothing†advertising blitz, which also featured star athlete David Beckham and the legendary Muhammad Ali. A vegetarian, Singh also appeared in a PETA advertisement that shows him running by in a black track suit and black turban.
During his sporting career, Singh has raised thousands of dollars for charity and has inspired an impressive global following, with more than 55,000 fans on his Facebook page at the time of writing. After the race on Sunday, messages of tribute poured in from around the world, said the Diplomat.
“This is a case of institutional racism,” coach Harmander told ESPN, of Guinness Book of World Records’ reluctance to grant Singh the official title of world’s oldest marathon runner,
Like many other countries, India did not issue birth certificates when Singh was born, although his passport duly lists his birthday as April 1, 1911. For perspective, from the time Singh was born India would still be under British rule for another 37 years.
Downplaying the treatment by Guinness, Harmander told ESPN, “They’re in the business of trivia. What does it matter if Fauja’s name is in the same book as the lady with the longest fingernails in the world?â€
Thinking back to his first days hitting the pavement, Fauja recalled, “I felt connected to God.â€