Running: Fauja Singh still making headlines

Monday, April 30, 2007 - 03:15 PM

World’s Oldest Marathoner, 94, Leads Team of Seniors in Scotland





Fauja Singh anchored five-man team with combined age of 397

June 13, 2005 – Fauja Singh, a 94-year-young grandfather of 13, led a marathon relay team yesterday in the Edinburgh Marathon in Scotland, which was billed as the “oldest ever marathon relay team.” The five-man team named itself “Sikhs in the City” and had a combined age of 397 years.

Singh, the world’s oldest marathoner, drew most of the attention in the field of more than 11,000 runners and was the official starter. There were 5,000 runners in the relay event.

The youngest member of the Sikhs was Amrik Singh, 70, from Glasgow. The other members were Karnail Singh, 76, from Glasgow, Ajit Singh, a 74-year-old retired Larkhall maths teacher, and Gurbaksh Singh, 73, from Gravesend, in Kent.

But it was Fauja Singh who grabbed the limelight as he crossed the finish line, although the Sikhs finished 730th of the 912 teams. They completed the course in 4hr 16min 24sec. Singh is originally from the Punjab in India, but now lives in Ilford, Essex. Last year he was signed by Adidas for the “Impossible is Nothing” advertising campaign and was featured in billboards across Europe.

Five years ago he took part in the Flora London Marathon at the age of 89 for the first time and has since completed it five times. In 2003 he set the marathon world record for over 90-year-olds, completing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 5 hours, 40 minutes. As well as completing the London and New York Marathons in 2004 he also returned to Toronto Waterfront to break the half marathon record for over 90-year olds.

“I am extremely honored to have been invited to start this year’s Edinburgh Marathon,” he said.

“By running as the oldest ever marathon relay team I hope we will inspire young people to keep going and older people never to give up.” Fauja, the world's oldest marathoner, took up running at the age of 81, when he arrived in Britain from the family farm in the Punjab. "Before that, I jogged regularly, to get from place to place," he said.

He said he talks with God when he runs.

A vegetarian, Singh, joined forces in 2004 with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to caution Asians and others about the perils they face if they “clog their arteries with meat.”

Geoff Sims, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Marathon said: "I hope Fauja and his team will inspire people of all ages and running abilities to get out and give it a go.”


More on this amazing man:


Life's a marathon, not a sprint - and here's the proof

MICHAEL BLACKLEY


THE world's oldest marathon runner and a Darfur refugee who has been refused asylum status in Britain were among the 11,000 taking part in yesterday's Edinburgh Marathon.

Fauja Singh, a 94-year-old father of four and grandfather of 13 from Punjab in India, successfully completed the race, which is in its third year.

The main event, which involved 6,000 runners from 45 countries, was won by the 25-year-old Kenyan Zachary Kihara. Cambuslang Harriers' Robert Gilroy was the first British runner across the line, and the first female was Russian favourite Zinaida Semenova, with Aberdeen-born Shona Crombie Hicks in second.

But it was the 5,000 who took part in the relay marathon that received much of the attention.

Organisers said the event raised £1.5 million for more than 100 good causes, as well as generating an estimated £1 million for the local economy. The Protect Darfur campaign also put forward a team for the relay marathon, which included Anwar Bakar, a 24-year-old Darfur man who has been refused asylum in the UK and told it is safe to return.

He used the marathon as a means of raising awareness of the campaign, and called on the government to understand that his people, the Fur, could be wiped out. He said: "They [the Janjaweed militia] will keep doing this. As soon as they know you are Fur, they kill you immediately. They will wipe out our whole race.

"They want to be in power. They just imagine that we are an idiot people, that we are just ignorant, that we shouldn't have anything to do with them because we are a weak people."

He has been told by immigration officers that he would be safe in Khartoum, but that is a claim that he strongly denies. He said: "How can somebody from here send me to Khartoum when that will happen to me?"



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