Dimitrion Yordandis, who ran the Athens race aged 98, holds the current record.
Dimitron, a life long runner, expressed some concerns that if he continued running for the next 5 years if might not be that good for his knees.
Dimitrion Yordandis, who ran the Athens race aged 98, holds the current record.
Dimitron, a life long runner, expressed some concerns that if he continued running for the next 5 years if might not be that good for his knees.
101 year old Buster Martin will attempt to beat this record at the LOndon Marathon this year. The dad of 17 is determined to become the oldest man to complete the gruelling 26.2-mile run.
War veteran Buster, who plays in a rock band when he's not at work cleaning vans, said: "It's about time someone my age did the marathon. It will be a record, though I'm not doing it for that. I just want to show that old people can do things." He added modestly: "I would like to be able to do it in three-and-a-half hours - but then I don't run as fast as I used to."
Buster, who completed the 10km Great London Run in 2hrs 22mins this June, will prepare for next April's marathon by running near his home in Vauxhall, south London. He vowed: "Every Saturday and Sunday morning I will be up at 5.30am to jog. "You have got to keep your knees from freezing up - and a couple of pints to grease them up could be called for." He will be running to raise money for the Rhys Daniels Trust, which provides a "home from home" for parents of children having treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
Great-grandfather Buster's geriatric band The Zimmers - combined age of over 3,000 years - reached No28 in the singles chart in May with a cover of The Who's My Generation. Buster, who puts his long life down to a daily pint of bitter and "good red meat" rather than cheese or fish, started work in London's markets when he was 10.
He was in the Army during the Second World War, rising to regimental sergeant major.
Buster's wife of 35 years, Irana, died in 1955. He worked in the markets until he was 97. Buster got bored with retirement and landed a job cleaning plumbers' vans three times a week. He said: "I will only give up when they put me in a wooden box." Charlie Mullins, boss of Pimlico Plumbers, said: "Buster is a great asset to the company and everyone looks up to him."
17 kids and running a marathon! I guess it just comes down to the size of your balls people.
it took him 2:22 to run a 10k and he wants to run the marathon in 3:30?
dwigt schrude wrote:
it took him 2:22 to run a 10k and he wants to run the marathon in 3:30?
He didn't say that he thought he'd be able to run it in that time - he said that he'd like to run it in that time. I'd like to date Salma Hayek. Well, not "date" exactly, but you get the idea.
Interesting. I heard that Fauja Singh was planning on coming out of retirement in a couple of years so that he could be the older person ever to run a marathon (he has the 90+ record at 5:40, which is just sick), but he's only 96.
Darned impressive. Walking that distance at that age is a significant accomplishment. I hope I'm that healthy in 64 years.
DontFeedTheTroll wrote:
Darned impressive. Walking that distance at that age is a significant accomplishment. I hope I'm that healthy in 64 years.
Heck, breathing at that age is a significant accomplishment. I hope to live that long.
if walking counts, then it's most likely some old man in a genocide being marched to a camp
Buster started drinking and smoking at age 7.
The last old man to run a half decent time was probably Robert Horman.
4:34:55 at age 86.in 2003
That was to compliment a 3:40ish effort at 81.
Go Buster wrote:
Buster's wife of 35 years, Irana, died in 1955.
So, he's 101, and his wife died 53 years ago, after 35 years of marriage? Meaning he got married around age 13?
101 year old Buster completes his marathon tempo run yesterday.
The main talking point of the day was a world record by 101-year old Buster Martin, who completed the course in 5 hours 13 minutes, including a "comfort break", a bacon butty and a couple of "beer breaks" on the way round. Buster has recently featured in the media as the oldest working person in the UK.
http://www.wgel.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&Itemid=40
I vaguely remember the NYC Marathon several years ago offering some kind of incentive bonus of $1million to the first centurion to complete the NYC Marathon. Does anyone recall the specifics of that, or if it is still in effect?
Not sure if there was a time limit for that or anything.
Exactly. Everyone take a good look at that picture of him. Something fishy about this story to me. He looks a lot younger than most 70 year olds. I'm not saying that he's lying, he may really be 101 and an astounding physical specimen. But it won't surprise me even a little if there is a followup story on this guy somewhere down the road that proves he is not 101 as claimed. Has anyone dug into this, I mean really dug into it, to substantiate his claim that he is who says he is and that he really is 101? By the way, I hope it's true, that would be great, and he would be a hero to me because I want to still be drinking beer and running long at 101.
I agree, something very fishy there. He looks incredibly sprightly for an old man, never mind 101 years old. He also seems curiously camera shy, anyone else pick up on that?
didn't that multi-tool have a bottle opener? he doesn't look 101.
He did serve in the military so I would assume they would have record of him. He says he retired from the military in the 50's, which would put him right on track to be 101 now.
Buster Martin was born in France, but came to England at three months old. Martin has not disclosed his real first name; he says that "everyone's called me Buster, [for] as long as I can remember".[6] Martin entered an orphanage after the death of his parents (of now-unknown causes), but was thrown out at the age of ten "for eating too much and growing too fast". He travelled to London, and found work running errands for stallholders in the Brixton market, the beginning of nearly 90 years of work.[3]
He met his future wife, Iriana, at the age of 13 (she was 12). They married a year later in France; the couple stayed together for 35 years, and had 17 children together. He left the market at 14, and joined the British Army and Navy at 15, where he became a physical training instructor. He served in World War II, and left the Armed Forces in 1955 after reaching the rank of regimental sergeant major.[6] After "taking up a wide range of trades",[2] he returned to the market, where he worked until he was 97. After complaining of boredom, he then resumed work, starting at Pimlico Plumbers in London on a twenty-hour week (three days a week) three months before his 100th birthday.[7]
On Martin's centenary, Pimlico Plumbers insisted that he take the day off to celebrate. However, he turned up for work; his colleagues then threw him a surprise party at the company's headquarters and organized a tour of Chelsea F.C.'s Stamford Bridge ground.[2] Until last year, Martin had never taken a day off for sickness in his ninety years of work, until an ingrown toenail forced him to take a few months' leave of work.[5]
On February 22, 2007, while walking to a bus stop from a local pub, Martin was attacked by three youths from behind. Their assault sent him "crashing to the floor", but he managed to defend himself; he says he "hit one in the groin and kicked another one". The youths ran off; Martin staggered to King's College Hospital, where he was kept in overnight. He reported for work the next morning, but Pimlico Plumbers' bosses refused to let him work.[3]
Martin plans to continue working at Pimlico Plumbers, and says he will "only give up when they put me in a wooden box".[5] He also offered his view on older workers: "Employers should pick people like us; we want to work and it puts money in our pockets and keeps us active".[6] Martin has recently joined The Zimmers, a band consisting of forty old age pensioners. The band recently recorded a cover of The Who's "My Generation" as a single as part of their debut album. Martin offered his views on the band: "I've never been in the music charts before and I'm sure we can give some of those young bands a run for their money. Maybe a group of pensioners can have a hit song."[8][9] Martin also accepted a position on men's magazine FHM as an "agony uncle," offering advice to the magazine's readers
from Wiki so ? reliability
I'm still not buying it. It's too convenient that he won't state his first name ("everyone's called me 'Buster' for as long as I can remember"), he seems very camera-shy, and he looks and moves a whole lot younger than 101. I remain skeptical. It's probably complicating that it is unlikely there are fingerprints, birthrecords, etc. available to prove he is who he says he is and that he is 101. Or for anyone else to prove/disprove it. I really want to be wrong on this because that's something to admire and aspire to, drinking beer and running at 101, but I don't buy it. Still fishy.