What Motivates Fauja Singh, 100-year-old Marathon Man
Looking for motivation for your run? Fauja Singh, the 100-year-old runner who this week became the world’s oldest person to complete a full-length marathon, might supply some.
“Anything worth doing is going to be difficult,” says Singh, of Ilford, England, whose 3,850th place finish at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront marathon, in eight hours, 25 minutes and 16 seconds, qualified him for the Guiness Book of Records.
Sometimes called “The Turbaned Tornado,” the slender 5’8”, 125-pound white-bearded and turbaned figure, found his motivation for the run in the record set in 1976 by the 98-year-old Greek runner, Dimitrion Yordanidis. “I just wanted to break that bloody record,” Singh said, explaining to a reporter why, worried he and his trainer might not finish the marathon, didn’t tell relatives he was running it.
“I lost my speed in this race,” says Singh, “but it was the thought of that old man that pushed me through the last four miles. That and God.”
Singh, who speaks Punjabi, says running has given him purpose and a sense of peace. “Why worry about these small, small things? I don’t stress. You never hear of anyone dying of happiness.”
Having moved from India to England in 1995, after the deaths of his wife and son, Singh lives with family in east London, and leads what he says is “a very simple life”.
He took up serious running when he was 89 after a neighbor happened to introduce him to ex-professional runner Harmander Singh, his trainer and friend. “I train him for free,” says Harmander. “It’s an honour for me.”
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Health tests done last year showed that Singh “has the bones of a 35-year-old,” says his trainer. The centenarian runner claims never to drink milk. “I’m scared of building up phlegm,” says Singh. “Punjabi people know eating and drinking is important, but I just eat the minimum of what I need: some daal and roti, gobi and chai – I’d probably be dead if I was full all the time.”
Singh’s late-life career as a runner first brought him celebrity six years ago when, at at 94, Adidas signed him for an its very cool Nothing Is Impossible campaign, along with soccer heroes David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinson.
“I’m not really interested in all the rupees, I give it to charity,” he says of his sponsorship deal. “Money can be saved and spent and lost and made. At my age it’s nice just to do this. Come on, who wants to talk to this old man? Everyone now! And it’s because of the running that all these people keep showing me so much love. Look how blessed I am. What’s not to be happy about?”
Fauja Singh reflects on healthy living:
Fauja Singh reflects on healthy living