Fauja Singh
Encyclopedia
Fauja Singh is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 centenarian
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...

 marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 runner of Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

 origin. He is a world record
Masters Athletics World Records
These are the current world records in the various age groups of Masters athletics. Starting at age 35, each age group starts on the athlete's birthday in years that are evenly divisible by 5 and extends until the next such occurrence. For record purposes, older athletes are not included in...

 holder in his age bracket. His current personal best time for the London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...

 (2003) is 6 hours 2 minutes, and his marathon record, for age 90-plus, is 5 hours 40 minutes, at the age of 92, at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Toronto Waterfront Marathon
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the last Sunday in September. Starting from 2011, the marathon will be held in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race....

.

Singh has stated, "I won't stop running until I die. The next target, God willing, is to be the oldest marathon runner ever." and, "At the time when people start retiring, I thought of running at the age of 63...and today I won the marathon at 93 years of age."

In 2004, Singh was featured in an advertising campaign
Advertising campaign
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication...

 for sportswear manufacturer Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

 alongside David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...

 and Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

.

Singh holds UK records for the 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, mile and 3000 m for his age group, records all set within a single 94 minute period.

At the age of 100 (and a half), Singh attempted and accomplished eight world age group records in one day, at the special Ontario Masters Association Fauja Singh Invitational Meet, held at Birchmount Stadium
Birchmount Stadium
Birchmount Stadium is a multi-purpose outdoor sports facility in Scarborough, Ontario near Kingston Road and Birchmount Road. Its capacity is 6,000 and was built for the then Borough of Scarborough....

 in Toronto, Ontario Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Timed by officials in Canada, He ran the 100 metres
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...

 in 23.14, 200 metres
200 metres
A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...

 in 52.23, the 400 metres
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

 in 2:13.48, the 800 metres
800 metres
The 800 meter race is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps...

 in 5:32.18, the 1500 metres
1500 metres
The 1,500-metre run is the premier middle distance track event.Aerobic endurance is the biggest factor contributing to success in the 1500 metres but the athlete also requires significant sprint speed.In modern times, the 1,500-metre run has been run at a pace faster than the average person could...

 in 11:27.81, the mile
Mile run
The mile run is a middle-distance foot race which is among the more popular events in track running.The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races...

 in 11:53.45, the 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...

 in 24:52.47 and the 5000 metres
5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

 in 49:57.39. Each time bested the previous record in that age division (some events had no previous record holder, as nobody over age 100 had ever attempted to run the distance). Some of his marks are significantly superior to the listed world record in the M95 age group as well.

Three days later, on October 16, 2011, Singh became the first 100 year old to complete a marathon, running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Toronto Waterfront Marathon
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the last Sunday in September. Starting from 2011, the marathon will be held in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race....

 in 8:11:06. As it took him over 14 minutes after the gun to cross the starting line, the official time submitted for the age group record will be 8:25:17. However, Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

 refused to include Singh in its record book due to the fact that he could not produce his birth certificate to prove his age. Birth records were not kept in India in 1911. He was able to produce a passport listing his date of birth as April 1, 1911, and a letter from Queen Elizabeth II congratulating him on his 100th birthday.

In October 2011, Singh, a vegetarian, became the oldest man to be featured in a PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...

 campaign.

Biography

Fauja Singh was born in Beas Pind, Jalandhar
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is a city in Jalandhar District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located 144 km northwest of the state capital, Chandigarh...

, Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

, British India on April 1, 1911. Not much is known about his early life. He lived with his wife in his village in Jalandhar, and moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1992 to live with his son after his wife’s death. He speaks only Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...

 and cannot read or write. The death of his son Kuldip and earlier of his wife forced him to search for a worthwhile alternative in life. Fauja's jogging skills were developed on an Indian farm in Punjab, and then at the age of 81, after moving to the UK, his love for the sport became more "serious".

At 89 years, he took seriously to running and ended up in international marathon events. When he first turned up for training at Redbridge, Essex, he was dressed in a three-piece suit. The coach had to rework everything, including his dress. Singh ran his first race, the London Marathon
London Marathon
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition, which has a $1 million prize purse. It has been held each spring in London since 1981. The race is currently sponsored by Virgin Money,...

, in 2000. Singh shot to fame when, at the age of 89, he completed the gruelling 26.2 mile distance in 6 hours and 54 minutes. This knocked 58 minutes off the previous world best for anyone in the 90-plus age bracket.

Singh is 172 cm (5ft8in) tall and weighs 52kg (115lb). He attributes his physical fitness and longevity to abstaining from smoking and alcohol and to following a simple vegetarian diet. He has been quoted as saying "I am very careful about different foods. My diet is simple phulka, dal
Dal
Dal is a preparation of pulses which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick stew prepared from these, an important part of Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshi cuisine...

, green vegetables, yoghurt and milk. I do not touch paratha
Paratha
A paratha/parantha/parauntha is an Indian flat-bread that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Paratha is an amalgamation of the words parat and atta which literally means layers of cooked dough...

s, pakora
Pakora
Pakora is a fried snack found across South Asia. Pakoras are created by taking one or two ingredients such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, plantain, cauliflower, tomato, chilli, or occasionally bread or chicken and dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them...

s, rice or any other fried food. I take lots of water and tea with ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

. ... I go to bed early taking the name of my Rabba as I don’t want all those negative thoughts crossing my mind."

Speaking about the marathon, he said: "The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God."

Turbaned Tornado

His biography, titled "Turbaned Tornado", was formally released in the Attlee Room of Britain's House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 on July 7, 2011 by Lord Anthony Young
Anthony Young, Baron Young of Norwood Green
Anthony Ian Young, Baron Young of Norwood Green is a British politician and Labour Party life peer in the House of Lords....

 of Norwood Green and retired British Supreme Court judge Sir Mota Singh. The 114-page book, penned by journalist and writer Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh
Khushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country....

, traces the runner's roots and tries to capture his life's journey, understanding the impact of Fauja on the world around him.

Achievements

Running Career:
  • Rediscovered at age of 81
  • Marathons run: London (5), Toronto (2), New York (1)
  • Marathon debut: London, 2000, aged 89
  • London Flora Marathon 2000: 6:54
  • London Flora Marathon 2001: 6:54
  • London Flora Marathon 2002: 6:45
  • Bupa Great North Run (Half Marathon) 2002: 2:39
  • London Flora Marathon 2003: 6:02
  • Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2003: 5:40
  • New York City Marathon 2003: 7:35
  • London Flora Marathon 2004: 6:07
  • Glasgow City Half Marathon 2004: 2:33
  • Capital Radio Help a London Child 10,000 m 2004: 1:08
  • Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon 2004: 2:29:59
  • Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2011: 8:11:06

Awards

On November 13, 2003, Singh was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children...

 by the National Ethnic Coalition Organization, a group that advocates ethnic pride and tolerance. William Fugazy, the chairman of the coalition, said Singh is a symbol of racial tolerance, and his running helps bridge the gap created by the September 11 terrorist attacks. "He is the greatest inspiration," said Fugazy, and added that Singh was the first non-American to receive the honour.

External links



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