PRESS ASSOCIATION -- The world's oldest marathon runner has revealed that drinking cups of tea and eating ginger curry, combined with "being happy", has helped him train for 10 miles every day since he turned 100.

Fauja Singh took up marathon running after his 89th birthday and has now completed seven races.

He holds the world record for the men's over-90 category after completing the 2003 Toronto marathon in five hours and 40 minutes.

The 100-year-old now hopes to take part in the Edinburgh 26.2-mile race as part of a four-man relay team with an average age of 86.

Launching the opening of entries for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival 2012, he said: "I am not a learned person in any shape or form. To me, the secret is being happy, doing charity work, staying healthy and being positive.

"If someone says I must stop running I ignore them - invariably they're younger than me. The secret to a long and healthy life is to be stress-free. If there's something you can't change then why worry about it?

"Be grateful for everything you have, stay away from people who are negative, stay smiling and keep running."
Born in India on April 1 1911, Fauja was a farmer in the Punjab when he first developed a love for running, but he only took
the sport seriously when he moved to the UK 50 years later. He started challenging other pensioners to races and has now run five marathons in London, one in Toronto and one in New York.

The 10th Edinburgh Marathon Festival weekend will be held in May next year with organisers hoping to break all previous records and raise more than £4.5 million in 2012.

Race director Neil Kilgour said: "Edinburgh Marathon Festival has it all - a great city that acts as a stunning backdrop to the event's proceedings and a programme of races that means that everyone is catered for, from children to marathon veterans."