Britain is a country which says "well done ! " to a 100 year old marathon runner called Fauja Singh

One hundred year old Fauja Singh from East London has finished the Toronto Marathon in 8 hours, 25 minutes and 18 seconds and in 3,850th place ahead of five other competitors and in so doing, became the World's oldest marathon runner.






Things you possibly didn't know about Fauja, that he :

* was born in the Punjab in 1911 and a farmer when he first developed a love for running, moved to Britain in 1992 but only took up running again 11 years ago, following the deaths of his wife and son and trains by running 10 miles a day.

* ran his first marathon aged 89 and has since run seven more and claimed eight 'centenarian distance records' from 100 metres through to 5,000 metres during the Sunday marathon, some of which had never been attempted by someone that old.

* found he 'hit the wall' at 22 miles but soldiered on for another two hours and at the final corner, said to his coach and translator that "achieving this will be like getting married again".


* attributes his success to a simple vegetarian diet and has said : " My diet is simple phulka (chappati), dal (lentils), green vegetables, yoghurt and milk. I do not touch parathas, pakoras, rice or any other fried food. I take lots of water and tea with ginger" and "being happy"


* was signed up, last year, alongside David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinson as part of the Adidas 'Impossible is nothing' advertising campaign campaign and also had his biography, 'Turbaned Tornado' published.

* was a torchbearer at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and now hopes to participate in the 2012 London Games torch relay.



Doesn't he find it difficult to cover 26 miles at this age? :

"The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God."