FAUJA SINGH THE MARATHON RUNNER WHOM WE GAVE THE MAHAVEER AWARD.
The oldest marathon runner died on 14 July 2025 at the age of 114.
Fauja Singh was 89 when he first took up distance running, Feeling bored at home he took up the Sport. By his mid-90s he was a marathon veteran, a record holder for his age group and even featured in an advertisement for Adidas. He was proudly Vegetarian. Below is the report of the event mentioned in our Ahimsa newsletter for the year 2004.
VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL- MAHAVEER AWARD PRESENTED TO FAUJA SINGH ON SUNDAY 30 MAY 2004.
As part of the National Vegetarian Week we held a Vegetarian Festival on Sunday 30th May 2004 at the Swaminarayan School, Neasden. The event was a great success. Poorvaj Joshipura from PETA, Stephen Walsh from Vegan Society and a Jain nun-Pratibhashree gave a talk. A Mahaveer award was presented to 93 years old marathon runner Fauja Singh.
The inscription on the award read:
‘Marathon runner at 93, you have proved to the world
that Vegetarian diet is best’. Sat Sri Akal.
YIV 30/5/O4.
An award was also presented to Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society which is celebrating its diamond jubilee this year–the inscription on the award read: ‘We salute your foresight, vision and compassion 60 years on’. YIV 30/5/04.
Alex Bourke chair of the Vegan society accepted the award on behalf of Donald. An award was also presented to Peter Melchett, founder of the Soil Association. Peter is a Vegetarian. The inscription on the award read: ‘You are well ahead of time in warning people everywhere about the degradation of Mother Earth’. We salute you. YIV 30/5/04
The awards were given away by Mr. and Mrs. Pravinbhai Mehta, Mr. and Mrs. Bhandari, Vinodbhai Kapashi, Jagdish Jain, Subahu Shah and Jayant Patel. The awards were donated by late Shri Bhandari. The Mayor of Harrow Councillor Mrs. Lurline Champagnie graced the occasion with her presence and she wished that more and more people would become
vegetarian! The programme included Indian cultural dances, music and food.
Also present was councillor Dhirubhai Lavingia. The event was being mentioned on Sunrise Radio all day long. Everyone also enjoyed the tour of the beautiful Swaminarayan temple. The programme was ably compared by Kajal Bhatt.
And the newsletter had the following advert!
‘Kathaiwadi for the real taste of Gujarat
434 Rayners Lane, Pinner HA5 5DX
Tel: 020 8868 2723 (evening) or 020 8868 9885 (evening)
Mon-Fri: 5pm-11pm, Sat & Sun: 12pm to 11pm.
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