The world’s oldest marathon runner was 101 years old.

 

The world’s oldest marathon runner was 101 years old.

We often think of world record runners as young athletes, but as long as you are in good shape, there’s nothing stopping anyone from running.

The world’s oldest marathon runner was 101-year-old Fauja Singh, who ran the London Marathon in 7 hours 49 minutes.

Although he broke multiple records, none of these were formally recognized.

Every excuse you’ve ever used to not get out of bed and run in the morning has just been trumped.

Fauja Singh, at the ripe old age of 101, finished the Hong Kong marathon’s 6.25-mile course Sunday with a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds. It was the last race for the world’s oldest marathon runner.

“I will remember this day. I will miss it,” he said shortly after crossing the finish line.

The Indian-born Singh, at 100, became the oldest man to run a full marathon when he finished Toronto’s waterfront marathon in 2011. Guinness World Records didn’t recognize his accomplishment because he didn’t have a birth certificate to prove his age, despite holding a British passport with his birthday as April 1, 1911. Indian government officials have said birth records weren’t kept in 1911.

Singh, who earned the nickname the Turbaned Torpedo for his distinctive saffron headdress, reflected on the end of his journey before the race with the help of his coach and interpreter, Harmander Singh.

“I am feeling a bit of happiness and a bit of sadness mixed together,” he said in a pre-race interview. “I am happy that I am retiring at the top of the game but I am sad that the time has come for me to not be part of it.”