Absolutely gutting news this week as the world’s oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh AKA the Turbaned Torpedo has died after being hit by a car as he was crossing the road. He was 114 years old!

Local media in India reported that Singh sustained severe head injuries in a hit-and-run accident while he was crossing the road at his native village near Jalandhar in Punjab.

India’s Prime minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Fauja Singh, saying he was “extraordinary because of his unique persona and the manner in which he inspired the youth of India on a very important topic of fitness”.

RIP Fauja Singh Ji who passed away at 114.
He took up running after losing his wife & son, turning grief into purpose. He dedicated his life to his Sikh faith (seva) raising over £100,000 for charity.

At 100 he was the world’s oldest marathon runner. A beacon of inspiration 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/GkjLXiMmY8

— Monika Plaha (@monikaplaha) July 14, 2025

I’ll be honest – I had no idea who the Turbaned Torpedo was until I read the news of his death this morning. But clearly he was a legend in India and also had a running club and charity in London named Sikhs In The City (great name).

He was even a torch bearer at the 2012 Olympics in London:

Incredibly, Fauja Singh only took up running at 89 years old, after he moved to London following the deaths of his wife and son. He ran the London marathon that first year, then at age 92, clocked his personal best marathon time of 5 hours 40 minutes. He ran his final marathon in Toronto at 100 years old, cementing his status as the world’s oldest marathon runner.

The Turbaned Torpedo was in such amazing shape for his age that he actually managed to be too old to be given the Guinness World Record for ‘oldest man to complete a marathon’, because no one could dig up his birth certificate to verify his age. When Singh went to get a new birth certificate, he was told by government officials that birth records were not kept in his native Indian village in 1911.

Bit lame of Guinness to not give him the record anyway, especially as he had a passport with his birth date of April 1, 1911 clearly on it. But nope, apparently they need to see a birth certificate.

Even still, the people know the truth: that Fauja Singh was the oldest man to ever run a marathon. What a kick in the teeth to then die in a hit and run accident. If I live to 114 and die in a hit and run accident, I’m haunting the driver of that car until they’re in the ground with me.

RIP Fauja Singh – absolute legend of the game.

For the 50-year-old Chinese man who ran a 3.5 hour marathon while chain smoking the entire time, click HERE. That can’t be healthy.