An elderly man who only took up running to lose weight after ballooning to 15 stone has become the oldest person in Britain to complete 100 marathons - aged 64. Sprightly Martin Ward completed his incredible century of 26-mile runs in eight years after he decided to get fit in his mid 50s following numerous health scares.
He previously suffered two collapsed lungs and a slipped disc and was warned by doctors for 55 years to "keep fit but never run - certainly not a marathon." The dad-of-two was registered as disabled in his 30s and went on to pile on the pounds as he got older having done little exercise throughout his life.
Even back at school he was told he was "rubbish at sport" by PE teachers because he struggled with cross country runs. But decades later, retired Martin has now defied the odds to become the oldest person in the whole of the UK & Ireland to join the elite 100 Marathon Club.
The remarkable feat include nine 33-mile ultra-marathons, two of which he won three days apart against super-fit runners half his age. Those two victories also made him the oldest person in the country to win an ultra-marathon and he's averaged 12-and-a-half marathons a year since his first in 2015.
It means Martin, who turns 65 this month, has clocked up a staggering 2,663 miles since he began - about the distance from the UK to the middle of Africa. Martin said he was inspired to take up running and went on to lose four stone after going to watch his son Richard, 39, complete a marathon in Wales.
Martin, from Allestree, Derby, said: "At school I was told I was rubbish at PE and if you tell a kid something they believe it so I just didn't exercise. Then in my 20s I suffered two collapsed lungs, once while running for a bus and then one day quite inexplicably when I was cooking bacon.
"I was left in intensive care, they thought I had a heart attack at first, but eventually that was all sorted before I had terrible back problems in my 30s. At that point I was registered as disabled and had a green card, so exercising was never on my mind until I got a bit older into my 50s.
"I was generally not in a very good condition but after having a cancer scare too I knew I had to do something. I watched my son running the Conwy half marathon along the beautiful Welsh coastlines and I turned to my wife Irena and said I'd love to do that.
"She just laughed at me to start with but I thought it might be a good way to start losing the pounds. I began by just jogging around the block, to start with just between lampposts, then eventually on to my allotment.
"I built up to park runs and then did a 3k and then I started doing 10ks. I started to really believe I could run then. It was like a revelation, as you can imagine. For 55 years I'd been told not to run and that I can't run. Then I find out I can.
"It was only at that point when I did the Great Manchester Run around 2015/16 that I actually bought my first pair or running shoes." Martin, who now weighs 11 stone, has since ran alongside Mo Farah seven times and Haile Gebrselassie once as he competed in marathons across Britain.
He added: "The Manchester run was Gebrselassie's last ever and he completed it once and went back to do it a second time with all the normal runners. As I was nearing the finish line I could hear an announcement saying 'Haile Gebrselassie is nearing the finishing line' and I thought I better speed up then.
"I crossed the finish line just before him so I sort of joke now I've beaten Haile Gebrselassie. One of the toughest I ran was on sheet ice in Milton Keynes when it was -5 degrees. The sweat was frozen to my face.
"I also finished 92nd out of more than 700 in the Endure24 endurance race which is just full of young fit lads trying to be the best runners in the world. Then I won Enigma Deja Vu marathon and the World Cup Ultra Marathon just days apart from each other. It just proves age is no barrier.
"My first marathon was the Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham in 2015 and my last was at Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes last Saturday (10/6). I'm absolutely elated. It's an amazing achievement. There's only 500 people in the UK and Ireland out of 72 million people who have done it."
Martin says the London Marathon is the best for atmosphere but his favourite was the Edinburgh Marathon where he ran his best time of 4 hours 18 minutes. Martin, who used to be head of customer services for a regional development agency and is also an avid poet and composer, added: "It's just a beautiful run.
"You start in the city and then go off into a big country park before going along seaside towns. It was my favourite not just because it was best time. I'm not the fastest runner but I'm a prolific runner. When my son did 52 marathons in 52 days I thought I'd keep him busy and ended up doing 34.
"It was at that point I thought I could get to 100. It was just down to sheer bloody-mindedness and absolute determination that I did it.
"I get through the barrier by composing music in my head. It's something to focus on when I run. What I'm proud of most of all is flying the flag for older people. People say that at a certain age you can no longer compete in sport or no longer win a race.
"Well, I've smashed that glass ceiling. You're told you're too old to do this and that you can't. You can." The 100 Marathon Club recognises only around 500 people in the UK & Ireland - just 0.0007 per cent of the population.
Read next:
