From Newsgroup: alt.obituaries

He was 114.

Get this - he didn't take up running until he was 89!

Everyone's going to be wondering "how much longer might he have lived"?
Well, I am, anyway.

And, sadly, it was a hit-and-run.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/15/fauja-singh-worlds-oldest-marathon-runner-dies-road-accident-aged-114

By Jamie Grierson.

The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.

The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and
suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth
village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to
reports in India.

His London-based running club and charity, Sikhs in the City, confirmed
his death and said its upcoming events in Ilford would be a celebration
of his life and achievements.

SinghrCOs coach, Harmander Singh, wrote on Facebook: rCLIt is with great sadness that we can confirm our icon of humanity and powerhouse of
positivity Fauja Singh has passed away in India. Aged 114 years old.

rCLHe succumbed to injuries caused by a vehicle accident while crossing
the road close to his home.rCY

Singh made his name by beating a number of records for marathon times in different age brackets. The centenarian became an inspiration for
countless athletes by running marathons past the age of 100.

A profile on the Olympics website said Singh was born in Punjab, then
under British rule, on 1 April 1911 and was the youngest of four
children in a farming family. He moved to England and settled in east
London with his son after the death of his wife, Gian Kaur, in
Jalandhar.

It was not until 2000, aged 89, that he took up running, quickly rising
to fame by completing his maiden marathon in London in six hours and 54 minutes. This time knocked 58 minutes off the previous worldrCOs best in
the 90-plus age bracket.

Singh ran numerous marathons, completing the 2003 Toronto Waterfront
Marathon in five hours and 40 minutes, his personal best. On 16 October
2011 in Toronto, he is thought to have become the first centenarian to
run a marathon.

The MP Preet Kaur Gill said on X: rCLSaddened to hear about the passing of Fauja Singh. I had the honour of meeting him. A truly inspiring man. His discipline, simple living, and deep humility left a lasting mark on me.

rCLA reminder that age is just a number, but attitude is everything. Rest
in power, legend.rCY

Her fellow Labour MP Jas Athwal, who represents Ilford South, said on X: rCLDeeply saddened to hear about the passing of Sardar Fauja Singh Ji. He
was legendary rCo a man who continued running until he was 101. He was a
global Sikh icon, that inspired millions across the world.

rCLHis spirit and legacy of resilience will run on forever. My heartfelt condolences to all his family and friends. We will miss him.rCY



https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqnppnx0z1o

By Saurabh Duggal

First half or so:

Fauja Singh, a British-Indian man believed to be the world's oldest
marathon runner, has died after being hit by a car in India at the age
of 114.

Police say Singh was crossing a road in the village where he was born in
Punjab when an unidentified vehicle hit him. Locals took him to
hospital, where he died.

Singh, a global icon, set records by running marathons across multiple
age categories, including when he was over 100. He began running at 89
and ran nine full marathons between 2000 and 2013, when he retired.

His running club and charity, Sikhs In The City, said its upcoming
events in Ilford, east London, where he had lived since 1992, would be a celebration of his life and achievements.

The hit and run happened on Monday as the centenarian was walking in his
birth village, Beas Pind, near Jalandhar.

"A search is under way, and the accused will be caught soon," said
Harvinder Singh, a top district police officer.

As news of the death broke, tributes poured in.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him an "exceptional athlete
with incredible determination".

Harmander Singh, Fauja Singh's coach at Sikhs In The City, confirmed his
death in a statement posted to the running club.

The statement said: "It is with great sadness that we can confirm our
icon of humanity and powerhouse of positivity Fauja Singh has passed
away in India.

"His running club and charity Sikhs In The City will be devoting all of
its events until the Fauja Singh Birthday Challenge on Sunday 29 March
2026 to celebrate his life of success and achievements.

"We will be doubling the efforts to raise funds to building the Fauja
Singh Clubhouse on the route in Ilford where he used to train."

When the BBC met Singh in June in Beas Pind, he was agile and active,
walking several miles every day.

"I still go for walks around the village to keep my legs strong. A
person has to take care of his own body," he said.

A torchbearer for the 2012 London Olympics, Singh clocked several
milestones during his running career, including reportedly becoming the
first centenarian to complete a full marathon in 2011 in Toronto.

However, his claim of being the world's oldest marathon runner was not recognised by Guinness World Records as he could not show a birth
certificate from 1911. The BBC reported at the time that Singh's British passport showed his date of birth as being 1 April 1911, and that he had
a letter from the Queen congratulating him on his 100th birthday.

His trainer, Harmander Singh, said that birth certificates were not made
in India at the time Singh was born.

Guinness World Records officials said they would have loved "to give him
the record", but that they could only "accept official birth documents
created in the year of the birth".

As a young boy growing up in Punjab, Singh was teased by people in his
village as his legs were weak and he could not walk properly until the
age of five.

"But the same boy, once mocked for his weakness, went on to make
history," he told BBC Punjabi in June.

Before he turned 40, Singh, a farmer, had lived through the turbulence
of both the World Wars and experienced the trauma of Partition.

"In my youth, I didn't even know the word 'marathon' existed," Singh
told BBC Punjabi. "I never went to school, nor was I involved in any
kind of sports. I was a farmer and spent most of my life in the fields."

He first took to running to cope with grief.

After the death of his wife Gian Kaur in the early 1990s, he moved to
London to live with his eldest son Sukhjinder. But during a visit to
India, he witnessed his younger son Kuldeep's death in an accident which
left him devastated...

(snip)
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