Driver held for hit-and-run death of world's 'oldest' marathon runner

By Sarabjit Singh Dhaliwal, BBC Punjabi, Nikita Yadav, BBC News, Delhi, July 16: Police in India have arrested a man in connection with the death of Fauja Singh, the world's oldest marathon runner, in a hit-and-run case.

According to the police, the accused, Amritpal Singh Dhillon was driving a speeding SUV when he struck the 114-year-old British-Indian runner. Singh sustained critical injuries and died shortly after being taken to hospital.

The incident took place in the northern state of Punjab on Monday, where Singh was out on his afternoon walk.

Singh, a global icon, set records by running marathons across multiple age categories, including when he was over 100. He began running at 89 and ran nine full marathons between 2000 and 2013, when he retired.

A white-coloured SUV, allegedly used in the incident, has also been recovered by the police.

The hit and run occurred near Fauja Singh's birth village of Beas Pind, close to Jalandhar city.

Police said Singh was crossing a road when he was struck by a vehicle. Locals rushed him to hospital, where he later died.

According to Indian media reports citing the police complaint, the runner's life might have been saved had the 26-year-old driver immediately taken Singh to the hospital.

BBC Punjabi met Singh in June at his ancestral home in Beas village in Punjab state

Singh had many records to his name.

In 2011, he reportedly became the first person over 100 to finish a full marathon, in Toronto. He also carried the Olympic torch at the 2012 London Olympics.

Despite his achievements, Guinness World Records could not recognise him as the oldest marathon runner because he did not have a birth certificate from 1911.

The BBC earlier reported that Singh's British passport showed his date of birth as being 1 April 1911, and that he had a letter from the Queen congratulating him on his 100th birthday.

Guinness said they wanted to give him the record but could only accept official documents from the year of birth.

His marathon trainer had earlier said that birth certificates were not issued in India at the time.

His running club and charity, Sikhs In The City, said its upcoming events in Ilford, east London, where he had lived since 1992, would be a celebration of his life and achievements.

As a young boy, Singh was often teased in his village in Punjab because his legs were weak. He couldn't walk properly until the age of five.

"But the same boy, once mocked for his weakness, went on to make history," he told BBC Punjabi in June.

Singh never went to school and didn't play any sports growing up. He worked as a farmer and lived through both World Wars and the turbulent partition of India.

"In my youth, I didn't even know the word 'marathon' existed," he said.

He started running much later in life, after going through deep personal loss.

In the early 1990s, after his wife died, Singh moved to London to live with his eldest son. But during a visit to India, he witnessed his younger son Kuldeep's death in an accident, which left him devastated.

Back in the UK, Singh was overtaken by grief. One day, during a visit to the local gurdwara in Ilford, he met a group of older men who went on regular runs. That's where he also met Harmander Singh, who later became his coach and his journey as a runner began.

Singh shot to international fame when Adidas signed him for their 2004 Impossible is Nothing advertising campaign, which also featured legends such as Muhammad Ali.