Sports
Best Foot Forward
by LYNDSAY MOSS
At the age of 97, Fauja Singh is an unlikely poster boy in the battle to encourage people to take more exercise.
But as he crossed the finish line after a 10-km race in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday, September 7, 2008, he issued a rallying call to couch potatoes and gym-dodgers nationwide: "If I can do it, anyone can do it".
Punjab-born Sikh-Briton Fauja Singh was among almost 20,000 runners taking part in the Great Scottish Run events, which also included a half-marathon and junior 3-km race.
After crossing the line, Mr. Singh, who took up the sport aged 89, joked: "It was a walk in the park".
Along with a group of runners from the Scottish Sikhs, Mr. Singh completed the 10-km event in 76 minutes and 14 seconds.
A vegetarian and a teetotaller who lives in London, he said the key to his success was positive thinking. He added: "It is good for your health. It allows me to focus on the positive and run away from people who are not positive and it doesn't cost anything".
Mr. Singh, who has completed seven marathons, was joined by 78-year-old Amrik Singh from the East End of Glasgow.
Fauja Singh has competed in more than 500 races since starting to run competitively in 1984, and said he had no intention of stopping now.
"I run ten miles every other day and run shorter distances the days in between", he said. "Seventeen members of my extended family are also runners, so I have helped encourage them and hopefully other people as well".
Sunday's half-marathon was won by Emmanuel Mutai from Kenya in a time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 10 seconds.
The women's race was won by Wokknesh Tula of Ethiopia at 1 hour, 11 minutes.
The fastest Scot was Robert Russell, from Auchterarder, who crossed the line in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 22 seconds.
The men's 10-km was won by Murray Strain from East Lothian with a time of 32 minutes and 22 seconds, with Lindsay MacNeill of Renfrew the fastest woman at 35 minutes and 53 seconds.
Several major charities benefited from the event.
[Courtesy: The Scotsman]
September 10, 2008
Conversation about this article
1: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), September 10, 2008, 5:02 PM.
An inspiring story. Now if we could take even a fraction of the lesson...
2: Savraj Singh (Pennington, New Jersey, U.S.A.), September 10, 2008, 5:38 PM.
The best part is that Fauja Singh wears a full dastaar when running. This man is a machine.
3: Panjab Singh (Sacramento, California, U.S.A.), September 10, 2008, 7:40 PM.
Sardar Fauja Singh is a living legend. 97 and still kicking! How does one maintain such chardi kalaa even at this ripe age? Sikhchic.com might consider publishing an interview with him.
4: Khushwant Singh (Chandigarh, Punjab), September 11, 2008, 8:45 AM.
I had the privilege of interviewing Fauja Singh for my book 'Sikhs Unlimited'. The entire interview was while walking on the streets of Ilford (Essex), where we hopped from one gurdwara to the other - for breakfast, lunch and tea. While walking, he had remarked not to concentrate on his life alone but also keep a lookout for the 'mems'! His spirit truly cannot be captured in words.
5: Brijinder Khurana (Delhi, India), September 13, 2008, 1:37 AM.
Salutes to Sardar Fauja Singh ji!
6: Ruchie Kaur (New York, U.S.A.), September 16, 2008, 11:06 AM.
The greatest wealth is health and Sardar Fauja Singh is a prime, living example of it. This story reminds me of a famous quote: "The only journey is the journey within and therefore, the best motivation comes from within". This merely translates to the fact that Fauja Singh is absolutely right when he says "If I can do it, so can you". His health and cheerfulness naturally beget each other. Not only me, but we all SALUTE you!
7: Dr. Satwant Singh (Kamp-Lintfort, Germany), November 02, 2008, 1:12 AM.
We should all be proud of this "Grand Senior".
8: Navraj Arora (London, U.K.), December 27, 2008, 2:17 PM.
I had the privilege of meeting the great man in 2004 at a Gurdwara where he flagged off a charity walk. He is truly an inspiration.