(Image Source: Sikhtimes)

 

BY ANTHONY MARTINEZ 

 

 

You're watching multisource world news analysis from Newsy.
 

Fauja Singh -- that’s a name you’ll see in the Guiness Book of World Records. No, he can’t pop his eyes out of his sockets. But at 100 years old -- this guy has the extraordinary talent of still being able to run a marathon.

 

Here he is crossing the finish line of today’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon, with a time just over 8 hours 25 minutes.
 

The BBC has a profile of the runner.

“He just enjoys the run, the records are a bonus. Running has given him a new focus in life. He lost his wife and one of his sons due to tragic circumstances and that’s what made him depressed and he overcame that by rekindling his passion for running.”


Singh runs sprints to keep in shape, and this is his ninth marathon so far. He’s already set many records for his age group, and CNN reports, Guinness World Records may soon honor him with another.

“Guinness had recognized Dimitrion Yordanidis, 98, as the world’s oldest marathoner for running in Athens in 1976. Yordanidis isn’t among the records kept by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, which already recognizes Fauja Singh as the oldest for the last marathon he ran, at age 93 in 2004.”
 

Moving from India to England, he began running marathons around the age of 89 and hasn’t seemed to slow down since. The Star reports, Singh has to remain disciplined, as well as cautious in his old age.


“In the Punjabi language, there is no such word as impossible,” said Singh’s trainer.
“His trainer points to a bone density test done last year when the runner was 99. Singh’s left leg was found to have a density of a 35-year-old; his right leg had that of a 25-year-old.
“His response was, ‘I knew my left leg was weak,’” recalls the coach.”
 

The Globe and Mail says Singh has an ‘indefatigable spirit’ and a message for all the youngins out there.

 

“The first thing is to get rid of this notion that you're old,” Singh said. “The other thing is, some people die of starvation in some parts of the world, but in western countries people die of overeating. And they don't do enough exercise to burn it off. You eat to live, not live to eat.


A note worth mentioning, he has no secret diet that keeps him superhuman, but he does like to receive a cup of tea about 32 kilometres into the race.

 

Transcript by Newsy