Running.

The Toronto Marathon took place on Sunday October 16, 2011. I have never run in a marathon, actually I am not sure I have actually ran even 10 km all at once. It is not something I am good at...running..but I do admire runners, and have often dreamed of being a great runner, but that is another story.

Running is a state of mind, more than anything. Most runners I know have a few things in common...they are busy usually, they normally have no time to run in their day, but they do anyway. I find that runners are determined and focused athletes, sometimes to a fault.

The other amazing thing about runners is that a lot of good distance runners are older. Why is that? I am sure an expert could explain it. My thought is the whole "focus" thing. I think (and it is just my opinion) that older runners have more focus, they have live more life, gone through more hardships and can channel that experience into the run. I could be wrong with this theory, and welcome some comments.

However, just to prove a point...let's look at this past Sunday's Marathon.

Kenyan Kenneth Mungara captured his fourth consecutive race in the Scotiabank Waterfront Toronto Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours nine minutes and 51 seconds. Are you kidding me?? 26 miles in 2 hours an 10 minutes?
Kenneth is 38-years-old.                                                                                                                            

               

Kenneth Mungara

Let's Look at another example.
Ed Whitlock set a world record on Sunday in his age division (beating his own record) He ran the race in a cool 3:15.54. His age division is over 80. Wow. Not only did he crush his old benchmark and beat his closest 70-and-up challenger by nearly 13 minutes, but Whitlock was faster than anyone in the next two younger age groups.

 

Ed Whitlock

I am not done. There is one more story to tell. Have you ever heard of a gentleman named Fauja Singh?  He also ran in the Scotiabank Marathon on Sunday. His time was over eight hours, which on the surface may not seem as fast as a lot of the runners, but let's put it in perspective. Fauja Singh is 100 years old and became the oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon when he finished the race.

Fauja Singh earned a spot in the Guinness World Records for his accomplishment.
A simply amazing story.

Next time you take a drive from say Milton, Ontario to Guelph, Ontario a distance of about 42 kms, think about how these 3 great runners did this distance on foot.

                                                               Fauja Singh (100 yrs old)