101-year-old Fauja Singh finishes London Marathon
Fauja Singh has (again) broken the record for the oldest person to finish a marathon. The BBC reports that the 101-year-old Londoner (and proponent of ginger curry) posted a time of 7 hours and 49 minutes. That’s about a half-hour faster than his time at the 2011 Toronto Marathon, where he set the previous record...
Century-old Frenchman (with the body of a 75-year-old) sets biking record
There are many, many things to say about this, and there is nothing that is necessary beyond the following: at the age of 100, Robert Marchand—citizen of France, former inhabitant of Venezuela and former Canadian lumberjack—has just ridden a bike 15.1 miles. In an hour. That sets a new record because it...
Stubborn old sailor won’t admit defeat
If it is true that a sailor’s survival often depends on iron resolve, and if it is true that old men are inherently stubborn, then no one should be surprised by 84-year-old Tom Corogin. Last month, the Ohio native was rescued from the vast, empty Pacific after “broken rigging...
Rainer Hertrich takes a break: The run of runs comes to an end
It’s over. Rainer Hertrich, the 50-year-old madman who had skied every day for 2,993 consecutive days, has stopped. The run of runs that started in 2003 is at an end, which means that Hertrich can finally claim his Guinness record for “Accumulated Vertical Descent in Consecutive Days on Telemark Gear.” ESPN...
Does Alaska hate old people?
We were saddened to hear that 50-year-old polar adventurer Lonnie Dupre has abandoned his attempt to be the first person to climb Denali, solo, in the dark frigid Alaskan winter. He’d used up quite a bit of food and fuel being pinned down in his 4×4 snow cave for a week,...
AARP-eligible adventurer currently attempting first winter solo attempt of Denali
It’s probably too soon to be talking about Lonnie Dupre’s epic/insane attempt to be the first person to climb the highest peak in North America…in the winter…by himself. He’s still in the early stages of the ascent, at 12,300 feet, so it’s like talking about a no-hitter in the seventh...
Our vote for the Nat Geo adventurer of the year
The Age of Exploration—at least geographic exploration—is pretty much over. The white spaces have been filled in, by footprints or by Google Earth. But there is still plenty of adventure out there, and every year National Geographic lets us vote on who has done the best job of firing up...
Toward a new definition of extreme sports
Two stories this week raise the issue of what we are talking about when we talk about extreme sports. Typically, the term is used to describe anything really dangerous and really unusual: physical activities pursued by a few people at the far end of the bell curve of crazy. (Base...
Put down the ginger curry and applaud Fauja Singh, 100-year-old marathoner
At age 100, British runner Fauja Singh completed Sunday’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8:25:16, placing 3,850 out of 3,855. Which means first that he is a phenomenal athlete and second that five people had to slink home after the race and admit they were beat by someone who was born the...
Glory is fleeting, as is not quite achieving glory
After three attempts to swim the 103-mile span between Cuba and Key West, and after multiple stings from jelly fish—correct that, make it Portuguese-men-of-war, a profoundly wicked animal that made her face and lips swell up like a collagen injection from Satan—Diana Nyad has announced that she’s packing it...
62-year-old has 400 marathons to go
We’re not sure if we should be impressed or appalled by Japan’s Hajime Nishi. Maybe we’re both. We like the idea of setting ambitious goals, and Nishi is certainly unafraid of reaching beyond his grasp. He’s aiming to complete 1,000 different marathons in 250 countries, which would sound ludicrous...
