Dharampal singh Gudha

Dharampal singh Gudha
Dharampal singh Gudha after finishing his race
Born	October 6, 1897? (age 7009376071120000000♠119 years, 62 days?)[1] Meerut, India
Occupation	organic farmer
Known for	Being the oldest running athlete in the world[2][1]

Dharampal singh Gudha

Dharampal singh Gudha also known as Dharampal singh Gujjar; supposedly born 6 October 1897, is a man who claims to be the world's oldest marathon runner. He has participated in and won many medals in national and international events. He set a new personal best in 2014 when he ran the 200 meters in 46.74 seconds at the 35th National Masters athletic championship held in Coimbatore. He has participated in almost all marathons held in India in his age classification. He is often compared with the famous centenarian marathon runner Fauja Singh. He claims that his one remaining wish is to break the record of Fauja Singh in the 10,000m.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] [15][16][17]}

Gudha has won more than 20 medals in national and international athletic events in his age category, including gold in the Malaysian championships in 2014.^{[18][1][19][20][21]}

Biography

Gudha was born in the village of Pandavas, Hastinapur. He comes from an agricultural background and claims he has been running since he was a teenager.

"When I was young, I used to run from my village to the neighbouring village, which was about 600 to 700 metres away. I would run several laps. I did not know how to run then, the technique of it, but I did it on instinct," he said. He gets up at 4 am and runs four kilometers daily. He takes part in Inter-State level races for veterans in the 100, 200 and 400 metre categories. To date, Gujjar has taken part in more than three dozen races in different parts of the country.^{[22][23][8][24][10][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]}

Personal life

When asked about the mystery of his fitness, he says it is all about having a controlled diet. He has led a strict healthy lifestyle since childhood and gives credit to his balanced diet of self prepared chutney along with mineral water and lemon juice for his longevity. "I eat a strict and balanced diet and have no illness. I stopped eating ghee and other fatty items almost 40 years ago," neither do I drink or smoke.” he said. He has been a strict vegetarian since birth.

While Gujjar refers to his passport and Voter ID Card which mentions 1897 as his year of birth and his PAN card which states he is 116, he does not have a birth certificate to prove his age.

Gudha has lost count of the number of marathons that he has run. However, he recollects running at marathons in Allahabad, Nainital, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and claims to have run 50 others. He states that he run his first marathon in 1970.

He would like to be able to represent India in many international events, but is restricted due to a lack of funds.^{[32][33][34][35][36]}

References

External links

• "Still Running at 119? Not So Fast" by Jeré Longman and Hari Kumar, The New York Times, 16 November 2016