101-year-old marathon runner says London race will be his last

Fauja, who was born in India but moved to the UK in the Sixties, took up marathon running at the age of 89 and has completed eight races since.

"Turning him into a marathon runner was one of the easiest jobs I've ever had," his coach Harmandar Singh told the BBC.

"If I said we're doing 10k he'd say 'why not 20?'

"I think the secret to his training regime and his attitude to life is that he's totally positive," he added.

Singh, who is a world record holder in the over 90s and over 100 category, said: "There's a song which says forget about age, your heart should be young.

"When people say you're over 100 I feel strange I don't consider myself to be old. If I start calling myself old I'll feel weaker."

"If I don't run, I don't keep moving that's hard for me. I always walk for two to three hours in the morning, even if I'm ill, I like to walk. It's my medicine," he added.

Singh turned up for his first training session in 1999 in a three piece suit and a pair of trainers and has since gone on to break multiple records and even appeared in an Adidas advert. He says the first 20 miles of marathon are easy, but "the last six I run talking to god".

Image via Getty