British runner of Indian origin, 101-year-old Fauja Singh, ran his last marathon on Sunday.
Fauja Singh, the world’s oldest marathon runner decided to stop running the marathons as running the 26.2-mile distance was just too much for him. “Enough, I will not run this long race now,” he said after running the London Marathon in seven hours and 50 minutes on Sunday that was hit by rain and windy conditions. Admitting he was nervous whether he would be able to complete his last marathon, Fauja Singh, who only speaks in Punjabi, said: “I was very nervous but the Guru Maharaj helped me keep my honour.”
Nervous Fauja Singh, who wanted to finish the race before the London Marathon cutoff time, kept on running and did not take the two 20-minute breaks built in the marathon programme in London. Despite the rain and cold, Fauja Singh managed to finish within time allowed and he had 25 minutes to spare. He was accompanied by his trainer Harmander Singh and two other marathoners from his running club throughout the marathon.
The founder member of the Sikhs in the City running club, who has lived in Britain since 1992 with his son after the death of his wife, said after the gruelling 42.19-km race, “I know how difficult it is to run the marathon, it seems quite easy for the spectators. However, it has its own charm.”
“The race went very well. He was 35 minutes faster than his Toronto time and that’s because he actually bothered to train this time,” Fauja Singh’s trainer and fellow marathoner Harmander Singh, who also is a member of the Sikhs in the City running club, said after the race.
The marathon runner, who started running as a hobby after moving to London after turning 80 and started serious running from his 89th birthday, is quite philosophical about death. He is not planning to coach runners or even give inspirational talks to motivate people to run. “I will leave to my trainer to coach people interested in running. I am close to dying now, so I will leave that to him (his trainer Harmander Singh),” he said.
However, he is not going to rest anytime soon. Fauja Singh, who runs between 10 km to 15 km daily, will continue running, but only short distance. “He will not be running marathons. But he has made it clear that the day he stops running will be the end of him. He will not stop running,” said his trainer Harmander.
“He will essentially not run more than 5 km, or maybe 10 km. That decision will be first taken by his family and when he gets their go-ahead I will then assess his fitness and then decide whether to allow him to run at all or for what distance,” his trainer added.
In June, Fauja Singh plans to run a vertical marathon in Taipei. To mark Taipei’s 101 years of existence, 101-year-old Fauja Singh has been invited to climb 2,046 steps of one of the world’s tallest buildings called Taipei 101. He aims to complete that in under two hours even as the record for the building is 11 minutes and 9 seconds).
Fauja Singh has retired from marathon running after Guinness Book of Records has refused to name him as the oldest marathoner as he does not have an original birth certificate. However, Fauja is not worried about that. “I have given it my best,” he said, with a twinkle in his eyes as he looked around for a seat to rest and get a massage for his frail legs before making the journey home from central London.