
Fauja Singh, world's oldest marathon runner, completes final race at 101 - Lightning
http://extramustard.si.com/2013/02/25/fauja-singh-worlds-oldest-marathon-runner/
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rikacomet
A major factor for his health is, that he follows the traditional punjabi
practices regarding life.

There is a saying in Punjab "Eat and Dress Well, Leave Rest to the God"

Been to punjab myself, and after spending 12 years in a sikh dominated school,
I know why they say, "You cannot simply return from Punjab hungry"

6:00 am morning, A traditional Walk in the feilds, Fresh Air (morning air also
has higher Oxygen content), 7:30 am Breakfast, starting with a approx 600 ml
glass of Lassi (Curd + Milk mainly), and spending 3-6 hours out in open each
day, and a sleeping at night at 10 pm sharp, in Open Air. People would swear
by organic things in Punjab.

Geez I miss those days. Punjab is a really great place to be.

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kranner
From what I've heard, Fauja Singh eats very little. Source: my mom, who
happened to meet him when he was attending a wedding in Punjab. She asked him
what he ate. According to her, it's a couple of pinnis for breakfast (a pinni
is a wheat-based local sweet) and palak di subzi (spinach leaves, curried) for
lunch.

Also, I hate to contradict you but Punjab these days is up to the neck in
alcoholism and drug-abuse. There was a discussion in here the other day about
Russian road rage; it's about the same situation in Punjab in my experience,
and I've spent most of my life there.

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rikacomet
About Palak di subzi, yes, its a favourite dish in Punjab, but not as much as
the now iconic, Chole Bhature & local favourite, Sarso da Saag(Spinach
Dish)+Makke di Roti(Bread).

Well, its not like a state of apathy in Punjab. A lot of the original Punjab
is the small villages, not much connected to the public view. Alcoholism &
Drugs is a problem faced by many countries, compared to that Punjab is no
different.

A social change is coming in India, you know how they say language is culture.
At this moment, Different Local languages are driving the way of adoption of
western habits in an Indian way. In Delhi, a mix of English-Hindi-Urdu has
become the norm, though many see English as a status standard, educated people
know that it is not a big deal, and they are leading the way of the transition
of Bharat(India in Hindi) to India, the later being not just English.

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TwoBit
That's great, but a marathon by definition is 26.2 miles. He ran 10K (about 6
miles).

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kayoone
He is a marathon runner while his last race wasnt a marathon, but the facts
are still correct.

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Nux
This guy "starred" in Horizon's "Eat, Fast and Live Longer". His secret, good
genes aside, is to eat fresh and not much.

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zbyszek
I liked the T-shirts he and his pals were wearing emblazoned with "Sikhs in
the City" -- the worst puns are the best.

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ck2
I hope I can do 15 minute miles at 80, let alone 101.

Doesn't sound very fast but walking is 2mph so he is twice as fast.

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monsterix
That's an interesting piece of news. I could not understand why Guiness World
Records aren't able to verify the age of this _supposedly_ decagenarian?

Do they really rely only on a piece of paper to confirm age? I believe not. It
shouldn't be hard to estimate the age of anyone accurately given the available
options and technology? And isn't it true that in some parts of the world even
today birth certificates are not in widespread use?

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cleverjake
I don't understand what you mean. How would you verify the age of a person
outside of official documents?

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jewel
I imagine you could do a rough verification via medical means. From what I
understand there isn't a perfect method to determine the age of a person other
than looking at the wear on teeth and bones, but that might be enough to
expose a fraud.

~~~
hartror
We have well documented progressions in physiology for age estimates of
younger people[1]. Though these are quite inaccurate, as recent cases of
Indonesian child sailors jailed in Australia as adults have shown. I would
think the uncertainty would only grow with age as different lifestyles wear
bodies in drastically different ways.

[1] bones and teeth change throughout childhood and into early adulthood as a
normal part of growth.

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LatvjuAvs
Give him 2 years, he will get bored and will do another run, I know these
"never again" old geezers.

