Record-breaking marathon man

AT 114, Fauja Singh “died too soon” when his remarkable life came to an abrupt end, run over crossing the road in India.

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The world’s oldest man to run a marathon, the first centenarian to do it in 2011, had remarked, “Life is so beautiful that I just don’t feel like dying.”

Singh ran numerous marathons, completing the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in five hours and 40 minutes, his personal best.

He was born in Beas Pind, Jalandhar, Punjab, British India on April 1, 1911, the youngest of four children.

For a famous runner, he did not walk until he was five years old. Cruelly nicknamed “stick”, his legs were thin and weak and he couldn’t manage long distances.