The 101-Year-Old Marathoner Who Drinks, Smokes And Fights

Already Britain's oldest employee, 101-year-old Buster Martin now aims to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette.

Sprightly and bearded, he completed a half marathon at the weekend in five hours 13 minutes. The former Army physical training instructor works three days a week for a London plumbing firm and says he has trained for the April 13th race in his spare time.

Read more...

Update: It looks like we're going to have to declare Buster the official hero of the Living page. In March of last year, Buster fought off a gang of teenagers who tried to mug him as he walked home from the local pub.

'Then they pushed me on the floor and I went mad. I was lashing out on the floor and then I stood up and was kicking them all.

'I pushed one and kung fu kicked the other one between the legs and he let out a scream. They ran off scared after I did that and I still had all my money.'

...He even turned up to work the next day despite needing hospital treatment for a bruised rib and a bump on the head.

Read More on Buster's Kung-Fu skills here...

Comments

[moodyring]

12:11 PM on 03/11/2008

Damn. That's pretty good.

My great-grandma, who died when she was 108, read the Bible and smoked her pipe everyday (I swear there was more than just tobacco in that thing; that woman packed that pipe with the vigor of a teenage boy). Nonetheless, she walked - slowly - with a walker.

The marathon thing is pretty damn impressive.

[wmbear]

10:50 PM on 03/10/2008

MY GOD...

And he only looks 100!...

[Bobleblah1]

08:29 PM on 03/07/2008

a pint and a smoke eh?

I think I'll try it.

[SaintN]

07:33 PM on 03/07/2008

Yes Buster was a very hard drinking,smoking and fighting man but he lies about his age - he's not really 101 he's actually only 37 !!!

[javaman]

10:45 AM on 03/11/2008

Hey just stays out in the sun to much. :)

[doneflyin]

04:32 PM on 03/07/2008

Yaaa, Bay-Bee!

Buster, you da man!

[basta]

12:33 AM on 03/07/2008

However, I heard Buster's grandfather can't hold his liquor.

[StrayTalk]

12:22 AM on 03/07/2008

Buster, have you tried the Patch? I bet you could cut 3 minutes off your time of 5 hrs and 13 mins for the half marathon. Anabolic steroids may help here also. Good Luck in the Flora London!

[dgscol]

10:09 PM on 03/06/2008

Sounds like he needs a cholesterol lowering drug to settle him down.

[lungfish]

07:11 PM on 03/06/2008

Last time I looked aging statistics estimated that at least a million of us will reach 100years old if as my grandfather, who lived to be 96, said "the mud don't stay and the cattle don't stray.."
Surely we are seeing it all around us as it is. I have known a lot of very aged people and almost none of them were teatotalers...They were upbeat, forward thinking, had learned resilience, enjoyed life and living, managed worry and fear in a proactive and positive way, etc...
We are going to see a lot more folks like this guy so take notes... you may end up being one yourself.

[Advocate123]

05:01 PM on 03/06/2008

This should be a great reason why the government should stop telling us what to eat.

[LazarusLong]

06:15 PM on 03/06/2008

...or drink ... or smoke...

[jbeach]

08:10 PM on 03/06/2008

Like people listen to info about what they should eat, anyway.

You'll notice this guy isn't going to celebrate with THREE McDonald's bacon double-cheeseburgers. He also probably won't wash 'em down with cheese doodles and grape soda, either. Hence he isn't 50lbs overweight - which is probably more destructive to your long-term health than either drinking or smoking.