Singh was credited with having transformed or created world records at age 90-plus and 100-plus, and with being the first to complete a marathon at age 100, and at 101. With his flowing white beard and bright orange Sikh turban, he was a favorite of marathon spectator crowds, celebrated in the media, honored by the Queen of England, subject of a biography launched in the House of Lords, a torch bearer in the 2012 Olympic flame relay, a sponsored elite athlete at major marathons internationally, a high-profile activist for philanthropic causes, and co-star of an advertising campaign along with David Beckham.
This celebrity came very late in Singh’s long life. When he moved from his native India to London, England, in the early 1990s (exact date unknown), he was an obscure Punjabi Sikh trying to alleviate private bereavement, as his wife and two of their adult children had recently died. He lived in Ilford, a suburb in east London, with another of his sons. By his own account, as a young farmer he was an avid athlete, until the violence broke out that preceded the India/Pakistan partition in 1947. Because he would have been aged 36 at that date, this already suggests unusual athletic longevity, in an era when few athletes anywhere competed beyond their early twenties.
Singh has usually been described as a vegetarian, though one interview emphasized that he ate very small portions of a “normal Punjabi farmer’s diet.” Singh’s inability to speak English, having to communicate through a variety of interpreters, and often being interviewed on camera during a marathon, with the interpreter running alongside, may be the cause of some factual uncertainties. Surprisingly, he was never able to be specific about the exact year in the 1990s in which he immigrated to the United Kingdom. The laudatory biography, Turbaned Tornado, by Krushwant Singh, does not resolve that issue.
Singh’s actual performances in marathons, road races and on the track are beyond doubt, because all had qualified officials, timing equipment, and certified course measurement. Considerable questions remain, however, over the legitimacy of his date of birth, for which his UK passport, first issued in the 1990s, was the only evidence. His world records are therefore not acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records, which requires an authentic birth certificate. There has been dispute as to whether births were registered in the Punjab in 1911, and if so, in which language.
There can be no dispute that Singh was an outstanding runner for a man evidently very old. His track records at reputedly age 100 included 52:23 for 200 meters, 5:32:18 for 800 meters, and 11:53:45 for one mile, a pace many younger runners would be happy with. He completed 10 marathons at a steady shuffling jog, often under close camera scrutiny, never showing any distress. He used his fame to raise a great deal of money for charities, helped by a London-Indian association wittily named Sikhs in the City. His contribution was remarkable as a role model for immigrant communities, as a man of committed faith and healthy lifestyle, as a ground-breaking senior sportsman, and as an inspiration for all older people.