Bowing out: Fauja Singh (centre front), aka the Turbaned Torpedo, waves to the crowd after his last race
For a man who loves running, it could never be said he ended his career in haste.
But on Sunday the world’s oldest marathon runner finally decided it was time to call it a day – at the age of 101.
Fauja Singh finished Hong Kong’s 10km race in a time of 1hr 32min 28sec.
In a saffron turban and sporting a flowing white beard, Mr Singh was accompanied by a group from the city’s Sikh community who joined 72,000 other runners.
The British Indian runner, nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, hung up his trainers just before his 102nd birthday. ‘I will remember this day. I will miss it,’ he said minutes after crossing the finishing line.
For a man who loves running, it could never be said he ended his career in haste.
But on Sunday the world’s oldest marathon runner finally decided it was time to call it a day – at the age of 101.
Fauja Singh finished Hong Kong’s 10km race in a time of 1hr 32min 28sec.
In a saffron turban and sporting a flowing white beard, Mr Singh was accompanied by a group from the city’s Sikh community who joined 72,000 other runners.
The British Indian runner, nicknamed the Turbaned Torpedo, hung up his trainers just before his 102nd birthday. ‘I will remember this day. I will miss it,’ he said minutes after crossing the finishing line.
Fauja Singh finished Hong Kong’s 10km race in a time of 1hr 32min 28sec
Singh, a great-grandfather, became the oldest man to run a full marathon at Toronto in 2011, at the age of 100.
He took up running as a way to get over depression after his wife and a son died in quick succession in Punjab.
Moving to London in the 1990s, he attended athletics tournaments organised by the Sikh community and took up the marathon after seeing it on television for the first time.
In 2000, at the age of 89, he ran his first London marathon and went on to compete in a further eight more. His best time was 5hr 40min at the 2003 Toronto marathon.
‘I am feeling happiness and sadness mixed together,’ said Mr Singh, of Ilford, Essex. ‘I am happy I’m retiring at the top of the game but I am sad that the time has come for me to not be part of it.’
Singh, a great-grandfather, became the oldest man to run a full marathon at Toronto in 2011, at the age of 100.
He took up running as a way to get over depression after his wife and a son died in quick succession in Punjab.
Moving to London in the 1990s, he attended athletics tournaments organised by the Sikh community and took up the marathon after seeing it on television for the first time.
In 2000, at the age of 89, he ran his first London marathon and went on to compete in a further eight more. His best time was 5hr 40min at the 2003 Toronto marathon.
‘I am feeling happiness and sadness mixed together,’ said Mr Singh, of Ilford, Essex. ‘I am happy I’m retiring at the top of the game but I am sad that the time has come for me to not be part of it.’
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