India’s 106-Year-Old ‘Marathon Man’

Indians are more likely to feature in the Guinness Book of World Records for more anomalous reasons, like the longest ear hair or the ability to pick up three bicycles with just their teeth. Not that there’s no pride in having hair that curls for miles but it does make us a little more grateful for a certain Fauja Singh, a man who defies physics in a much less hirsute manner.

At 89, the man ran his first marathon, the joys of running having been discovered only a few years earlier and the notion of a marathon only became possible to him just a little before actually running his first one, at the ripe old age of 89. It wasn’t long before he was scooping up records and awards everyday and at 100, he did the unthinkable. He became the oldest man, a centenarian, to complete a marathon in a little over 8 hours. It didn’t matter that he was the last person to cross the finish line. The crowd reaction he received was far more compelling than those who finished hours before him. Mostly because, in a more incredible way, he was still the first.
Fauja’s story is a remarkable one, right from his birth to the trials and tribulations he faced over his lengthy life, to choosing running towards rather than waiting for the ultimate finish line in his opinion--his own death. From arriving at his first ever training in a three-piece suit to not being able to walk properly till the age of 10, you can read a detailed version by ESPN here.

Watch him run his last marathon ever below in Hong Kong at the age of 101:

Image Credits: Levon Bliss