Runner, 100, Preps For Marathon
October 13, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
TORONTO, Oct. 13 (UPI) — A 100-year-old runner ran several short races in Toronto Thursday in preparation for a 26-mile marathon on Sunday, his trainer said.
Fauja Singh has been running competitively since he was 89 and has set three records for men over 90 in international marathons, the Toronto Star reported.
Thursday’s short races were to limber up for Sunday’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the Indian-born Sikh runner told the Star through an interpreter. He said he hasn’t run a full marathon since he was 92.
He said he runs seven to 10 miles a day to stay fit and eats simply.
Spectators do double-takes when they see the 115-pound man with his long white beard and turban amid the runners, his trainer Harmander Singh (no relation) said.
Last year, the 99-year-old runner underwent a bone density test in Britain where he now lives. Doctors said his left leg was found to have a density of a 35-year-old, while his right leg had that of a 25-year-old, the Star said.
Singh said he knows he’ll set a new record Sunday, as there are no other 100-year-old runners entered, but hopes to set some others as well.
“I just keep going knowing that every step I take I am getting closer to the finish line — standing around is not going to get me there,” he said.
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