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Iron Man

There is achievement -- and then there is Fauja Singh, whose incredible marathon career reached a peak this week when he became the first 100 year old man (born April 1, 1911) to complete a full marathon. "I won't stop running till I die," the iron man of marathon running said, soon after he crossed the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16, in a time of 8 hours, 25 minutes and 17 seconds.

Singh, who took to long distance running at the ripe age of 63, made his marathon debut in London at age 89 and has since completed five London marathons, besides one edition of the Toronto marathon and one in New York, among other notable achievements. A confirmed vegetarian, Singh's accomplishments propelled him to not merely international headlines, but also to a 2004 ad campaign for Adidas, in which he joined the likes of superstar soccer player David Beckham, and the iconic former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

Singh set the stage for his record-breaking feat on October 13, when at the Ontario Masters Association Fauja Singh Invitational Meet at Birchmount Stadium in Toronto, Canada, he was timed across the 100 meters in 23.14 seconds, across 200 meters in 52.23 seconds, across 400 meters in 2.13.48 and across the metric mile in 11.53.45 -- all of them records for his age group. In fact, he is the only holder of some of these records, owing to the simple fact that no one remotely close to his age had even attempted such distances before.

Here is a video capturing his latest, greatest feat: