NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
Born in 1911 in the small village of Beas Pind in the Punjab area of North-West India, Fauja was the youngest of four children. At this point, India was still ruled by the British.
As a child, Fauja was very ill and weak. He could not walk until he was five years old and had thin legs – unable to carry his weight. Other children teased him and called him ‘Danda’, which is Punjabi for ‘stick’.
He kept this nickname until he was fifteen.
Fauja never went to school and never learned to read or write. He did not take part in any competitive sport, other than a couple of cross-country races.
He became a subsistence level farmer.
Whilst working his farm, Fauja took up running in order to build up his strength. He did not race but just ran from task to task.
Fauja married Gian Kaur and they had lots of children.
He gave up running when he was thirty-six, at the same time as the Partition of India (in 1947).
Tragedy struck in 1992, when Fauja was in his eighties.. His wife, Gian, died , followed by his eldest daughter, who died in childbirth.
Fauja then witnessed the death of his youngest son, Kuldeep, in a construction accident.
He was inconsolable. Fauja would go and sit for hours at the place of Kuldeep’s accident, staring at the ground.
Concerned neighbours contacted his oldest son, Sukhjinder, who lived in Ilford, London. It was decided that Fauja should move to England.
Initially, he was very lonely, knowing nobody except his family.
One day, he turned on the television and saw the New York marathon. Fauja was intrigued.
Fauja signed up for training at Redbridge. For his first session he turned up wearing a three-piece suit. His coach, Harmander Singh (no relation), had to inform him this was not suitable attire for competing in athletics.
However, the coach was impressed that Fauja seemed to be able to run twenty kilometres effortlessly.
Fauja entered the London marathon in 2000 but made a mistake, assuming the distance was 26 kilometres and therefore just a little bit further than he normally ran. He didn’t realise the length of a marathon was 26 miles.
Just before the race, Fauja was told he was not allowed to run whilst wearing a turban. He vehemently argued the case with the marathon organisers – and they capitulated.
After that, the ‘No Turban’ regulation was quietly abandoned. Fauja later said, “That’s my biggest achievement.”
Fauja completed the course but was utterly exhausted.
From that day on, he always wore a yellow turban whilst racing.
After that experience, Fauja began to take his training much more seriously. He credited all of his achievements to coach Harmander Singh. “Had I not met Harmander, I wouldn’t have got into marathon running.”
Asked what Harmander’s coaching techniques were, Fauja said, “He makes me run up hills.”
Aged 93, Fauja broke the world record time for a marathon in the 90+ category, with a time of six hours, 54 minutes – beating the previous record by 58 minutes.
Soon afterwards, Fauja broke the UK records for 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, the Mile and 3,000 metres – all in a 94-minute period.
Fauja acquired the nickname ‘the Turbaned Tornado’.
He was signed by Adidas to appear in their ‘Nothing is Impossible’ adverts alongside David Beckham, Jonny Wilkinson, Zinedane Zidane and Muhammad Ali.
In 2005. Fauja got an invitation from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, to run in the inaugural Lahore Marathon.
The following year, Fauja received a personal invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth 2nd at Buckingham Palace. After his visit he always kept a photograph of the special occasion on his living room wall.
Aged one hundred, Fauja broke eight world records in one day at an athletics meeting in Toronto. Some of the disciplines had no previous record as they had never been completed by a centenarian at an official event.
Three days later, on October 16th 2011, Fauja completed the Toronto Marathon. He became the first person aged over one hundred to complete a marathon (the previous oldest finisher had been 98).
He also broke his personal best by one hour and five minutes.
Fauja went on to complete another eight marathons. He said, “The first twenty miles are not difficult. As for the last six miles, I run while talking to God.”
He was part of a group of four men who created ‘Sikhs in the City’ – a running group for elderly men (the others were 79,79 and 80). They ran the Edinburgh marathon in relay, doing one quarter each.
Sikhs in the City used this style of running in other long-distance races.
Fauja was a lifelong vegetarian and never smoked or drunk alcohol. “I am very careful about different foods. My diet is simple – no fried food.” He also went to bed early each night, to clear his head of negative thoughts.
Fauja was an active supporter of PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
The races he competed in were always for charity. His chosen ones were BLISS (care for premature babies) and the British Heart Foundation. He had a number of friends that had suffered heart attacks. Fauja never made any money from his running, donating everything to these good causes.
His tag line for BLISS was ‘The oldest running for the youngest. May they live as long as him’.
A biography of Fauja was written by Chandigarh and Khushwant Singh. It was entitled ‘The Turbaned Tornado’. The launch party was in the House of Lords.
There was also an illustrated children’s book made about his life story – ‘Fauja Singh Keeps Going’. In addition, a Bollywood movie was made about him.
In 2012, Fauja was selected as a torch bearer for the Olympic flame.
That same year, there was a controversy. Fauja attended a political rally in Kukranwala, a village close to his native home in India.
Afterwards, the organisers of the meeting, the ‘People’s Party of Punjab’, began to use Fauja’s name and image as a political tool. The Sikhs in the City came to his defense, accusing the politicians of, “abusing the vulnerability of an old man for its own ends.”
In 2013, Fauja ran his last marathon, in Hong Kong. He retired from racing but still loved going to marathons as a spectator.
Asked why he had continued running for so long, Fauja said, “I just wanted to do something useful rather than dwell on the past.”
His advice to others was, “Eat less, run more, stay happy.”
He kept running for pleasure though, completing a minimum of ten miles a day (six before breakfast). Asked the secret of his athletic longevity, Fauja responded, “My medication and ginger curries.” He added, “I love running because it is good for my health – and it gets me out of the house.”
He believed his strength came from a lifetime of hard physical work. If he couldn’t run, he would go for long walks. “If I’m tired, I just use my bus pass.”
In 2015, Fauja was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Years’ Honours List, for ‘Services to sport and charity’. He received many other awards including the ‘Pride of India’.
Despite all of Fauja’s successes, he never appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records. This was because he could not produce a birth certificate, as none were produced in the Punjab around the time of his birth.
His British passport stated that he was born on the 1stApril 1911, but that was not deemed proof enough. Not that Fauja cared. “Who’s Guinness?”, he said.
In his later years, Fauja divided his time between the United Kingdom and India. “I still go for walks around the village to keep my legs strong. A person has to take care of his own body.”
Fauja was on a visit to Beas Pind, the village of his birth, when he was hit, and killed, by an SUV, whilst crossing a road. The driver did not stop.
The police launched a search for the ‘Hit and Run’ driver and later arrested a 26-year-old Canadian national who had a work permit for India.
Indian Prime Minister, Narenda Modi, said of Fauja, “He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination.”
British MP, Preet Kaur Gill, who had met Fauja, said he was, “A truly inspiring man. His discipline, simple living and deep humility left a lasting mark on me.”
His own MP, Jas Athwal (Ilford South), said, “Fauja inspired millions across the world. His spirit and legacy of resilience will run on forever.”
Fauja was 114 when he died. Despite retiring from competitive racing when he was 102, it is believed he was not the oldest ever competition runner. A man named Dharampal Singh Gudha, claimed to be entering races aged 119.
Fauja’s coach, Harmader Singh reflected, “I think the attention kept him alive. He used to say ‘When you get old, you become young again, because you want attention’. He was fascinated, dazzled, because everything was glittering to him.”
The ‘Sikhs of the City’ running club continues without Fauja, going from strength to strength. They are building the Fauja Singh Clubhouse.
RIP – Running In Punjab
