ماراتن
در این مقاله داستان ماراتن را خدمت شما عزیزان با ترجمه ی فارسی آن آورده ایم باشد که برای شما دوستان گرامی مفید واقع گردد.
Marathon
Running a marathon has always been a test of human strength and will power. To run a 42 km race is impressive for people in their 20s and 30s, but almost unheard of for the elderly. Amazingly, Fauja Singh was 89 years old when he ran his first marathon
Fauja was born in a small village in northwestern India in 1911. He was a weak child and crawled until the age of five. At the late age of 10, Fauja finally developed enough strength in his legs to properly walk
At that time, the only schools in the area were for rich people, so Fauja worked as a farmer
He married and had children, 3 boys and 3 girls. In 1992, his wife died and most of his children had already moved to England and Canada. Only his son Kuldip, stayed with him
Kuldip and Fauja were very close, working the farm and living in the same house. Then one day a tragedy hit. There was a violent storm with heavy winds. A piece of roofing flew off a restaurant and cut Kuldip’s head off. Fauja was devastated and fell into a deep depression
His other children were worried about him and brought him to England. It was in England when his depression lifted in an unusual way. He started to run with a group of Indian expats. As a child he was weak, but after a lifetime working on a farm he was in good shape. He began to challenge other elderly runners to races and he often won
As he ran, each step became a rhythmic meditation. He only heard his feet hitting the ground. His mind was clear and he felt at peace. When he was running he was able to forget his sadness and anger over losing his son
Aside from running, Fauja had little to do. For once in his life, he didn’t have a farm to work on. His son took care of him, so he no longer needed to work. In India he never owned a TV, but living in England, he had lots of free time and watched TV often. One day he saw people running a marathon on TV and decided that he would do one too
With only 10 weeks before the London marathon, Fauja knew he needed to train, so he found a running coach. Fauja was a simple farmer in India, but he had developed a taste for expensive clothes in England. He showed up for his first training session wearing a stylish 3-piece suit. After arguing with his new coach, he finally went and bought some running clothes
Fauja trained with his new coach every day and slowly increased the distance he ran. After 10 weeks of training he was ready. At the age of 89, he ran his first marathon in 6 hours and 54 minutes
Many non-professional runners do one marathon and feel satisfied. Not Fauja. At the age of 90, he ran it again. This time he completed it almost one hour faster. He was the fastest marathon runner in the world over 90
Fauja began to receive requests for interviews and TV. Adidas put him in a magazine ad bragging about his marathon running times. It said, “6:54 at age 89. 5:40 at age 92. The Kenyans better watch out for him when he hits 100
Fauja continued to run marathons and break records. In 2003, he went to New York to run a marathon. Fauja is a Sikh and like all male Sikhs, he wears a turban. This was not long after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At this time, there was a lot of anti-Muslim anger and to some Americans, the turban was a symbol of Islam
Fauja knew that some people would think he was a Muslim, but he welcomed the chance to proudly represent his culture. Not everyone was against him. Some people cheered him, but others called him Osama and Saddam. This was Fauja’s most difficult race. He developed bad blisters on his feet. The blisters broke and his feet soon were covered in blood. He couldn’t run anymore, but he wouldn’t stop walking. After 7 hours and 34 minutes, he crossed the finish line. He gave a quick interview with news reporters and then was taken to the hospital
Fauja only ran one more marathon at the age of 102. He has retired from races, but not from running. He said, “I’ll stop running when I die