Fauja: 'Running is my medicine'



It was more than just a run.

Participants of the Chardikala Charitable Fun Run braved the heavy rain to get a glimpse of the world’s oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh who flagged off the 5km race at the Astaka Field, Petaling Jaya yesterday evening.

The event attracted more than 1,000 participants with several runners from Kenya, Japan, India and Malaysia. Also present was Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi.
Fauja, who is 101-years-old, was still in good spirits despite having ran in the Standard Chartered 10km Run in Singapore earlier in the day before visiting PJ.

“Running is my medicine so I have to continue running,” said an expressive Fauja.

“I am very happy to be here and I wish more people will take up running. Youngsters should be involved in sports as it is healthy and they will avoid taking drugs and committing other vices.”
Fauja has taken the athletics scene by storm after his impressive feats since he started running in his late 80s. Since debuting at the London Flora Marathon in 2000, Fauja has been a regular face in most marathons worldwide including the New York Marathon (2003), Toronto Waterfront Marathon (2003, 2004 and 2011) and the Hong Kong 10km race.

His best record thus far is at the Toronto marathon last year when he clocked 8 hours 25 minutes to finish tops in the above 90 age group.

He was carried the torchbearer for the Olympics on two occasions – for the Athens 2004 and 2012 London Games.

“I am glad not because I carried the torch per say but I believe that it is a recognition to the Sikh community, that one of us have been given the opportunity to run with the torch outside of India and 
I’m thankful,” he added.

Fauja was a farmer in India but migrated to UK after the loss of his wife and son.  He started running to distract himself from his loss and it turned out to be a motivation run further.

Now, he spends at least four hours daily running and after every eight days he takes it to the next level.

“I start my day at 8am and have a very modest diet of mostly capati, dhal (lentils) and yogurt. The food in UK is rich and I avoid them.

“I am happy and grateful with my life and I will continue running until I can,” he added.

And his advice to those wanting to run – including those in their golden age;

“Just look at me, if I can do it...so can you.”

HD says: It was certainly an inspiring moment sitting across Fauja and later taking a snap shot with him. He puts many of us to shame.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 5, 2012 at 1:37 PM

    Hi, Haresh, how r u keeping, gud article

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pelepasan cukai tambahan untuk pembelian alatan sukan, sewaan fasiliti sukan antara cadangan untuk Bajet 2024

Image
Berikut merupakan antara cadangan-cadangan Kementerian Belia dan Sukan untuk Bajet 2024 yang akan dibentangkan bulan hadapan. 1. Pengasingan sukan daripada kategori gaya hidup 2. Meneruskan dan memperluaskan inisiatif pelepasan cukai tambahan bagi aktiviti sukan berdasarkan senarai baharu 103 sukan berkuatkuasa Mac 2023 seperti berikut: 3. Pelepasan cukai tambahan sebanyak RM5,000 khusus berkaitan dengan aktiviti sukan yang dibelanjakan oleh individu bagi: • pembelian peralatan sukan untuk aktiviti sukan mengikut Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. • bayaran sewaan atau fi kemasukan ke mana-mana fasiliti sukan. • bayaran fi pendaftaran bagi penyertaan pertandingan sukan yang diluluskan di bawah Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. • Bayaran jurulatih/latihan/kelas untuk aktiviti sukan mengikut Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997. Justifikasi: Impak kepada negara 1. Pembudayaan gaya hidup sihat dan aktif melalui aktiviti bersukan kepada semua peringkat sebagai pelaburan  kepada negara bagi mengurangkan be...
Read more

Papa win, papa win.

Image
Those were the words of three-year-old Dasha Ong. National coach Ong Kim Swee has not seen his wife Alodle Donna Derick, Dasha and his seven month old baby Dashie for almost a month. And the words of Dasha just hours prior the kick off between Indonesia and Malaysia in the final certainly motivated Kim Swee. In return, Kim Swee motivated the lads and they won. Read more in today's Mailsport. As expected members of the Press - even those not from the Sports Desk - had numerous questions for Kim Swee. Some wanted Kim Swee to share his experience in Jakarta, others were penning down every word of his when he slammed the organisers for their antics which certainly disturbed him and the boys. But the celebrations must come to an end as Kim Swee and the Olympic lads will now face Syria in the Asia zone Olympic qualifiers tonight (8.45pm). And Kim Swee had this to say: "The players are tired but with the support of the fans, if they come in full force, perhaps that will motivate our...
Read more

From 'Mr P' to 'Kemelut Dalaman BAM': Four chapters of 'mesej Whatsapp layang'

Image
Surat layang , or rather ' mesej Whatsapp (or some will pronounce as Wasup) layang '. That was what I received this afternoon from a number that is not registered on my phone. The sender identified him/herself as " ahli yg memerhati tingkah laku BAM " (Badminton Association of Malaysia). The four chapters were titled as:  'Siapa dia Tan Sri BAM "Mr P"' Perletakan Jawatan Presiden BAM 'Siapa Tengku Zafrul' Kemelut Dalaman BAM There were many allegations to which the sender justified as not " fitnah " but " hakikat apa yg berlaku ". The four chapters highlights Mr P's "connection kuat ", goes into why Tengku Zafrul was named as the incoming BAM president, and takes issue with the establishment of 'Yayasan Badminton Nasional' and Akademi Badminton Malaysia. The writer (unsure if the sender is also the writer) also wrote that ' majority in the Council dalam BAM semua tak berani buat laporan sebab tak...
Read more