101-year-old Buster Martin will join over 30,000 runners on the streets of London this weekend. If he completes the course, he will become the oldest ever person to complete the 26.2 mile marathon distance, beating the existing record by a whopping 8 years.

Buster’s training for the London Marathon has gone well. His preparation was meticulously planned by Harmander Singh who successfully trained 94-year-old Fauja Singh, the current world’s oldest marathon runner. On March 2, Martin completed the Roding Valley half marathon in Essex in 5 hours and 13 minutes. After crossing the finishing line, he drank a pint of ale and signed autographs for fans.

Extraordinary life

Buster’s bid to run the London Marathon is the latest feat in what is an extraordinary life. He is already Britain’s oldest employee after returning to work as a van cleaner for Pimlico Plumbers at the age of 98. He even refused to take a day off on his 100th birthday. In February 2007, he received plaudits after fighting off three youths who had attacked him in the street. He walked to hospital for a quick check-up before reporting for work the following day.

But Buster’s achievements don’t stop there. He is also the oldest British musician to have a hit single after his band The Zimmers, a collective of 40 rock-togenarians, stormed the charts last year with their cover version of The Who’s My Generation. The Zimmers’ success lead to Buster accepting a job as an agony uncle for FHM magazine.