90 feels like just a number in marathon running! On April 19, 90-year-old Chikashi Oguchi finished the Nagano Marathon in 4:48:01, a time that would have made him the M90 world record holder. But just a few days earlier, an Italian runner who started running after a cycling accident had already changed the story with a run of 4:30:30. And what makes it even more surprising is that he did not stop there, as a few days later, he set another record!

The Turin native Giuseppe Damato recently took part in the Turin Half Marathon on April 19, 2026, where he ran 2:07:36, setting the M90 half-marathon world record and bettering the previous record by almost 50 minutes.

However, before this, on April 12, 2026, at the Milan Marathon, he had already delivered the bigger breakthrough, running 4:30:30 and setting the M90 marathon world record. This was the run that shocked the Masters athletics world because he took more than an hour and forty minutes off the previous mark of 6:14:44, set in 2023 by Antonio Rao.

After his Milan performance, he said at the finish line in Piazza Duomo, “I’m a bit short of breath,” before quickly recovering and continuing to speak. At the same time, his journey is just as remarkable as his results. Damato began running at 73, after a cycling accident forced him to stop cycling. As a result, he switched to running and completed his first marathon that same year in 3:40. Interestingly, Milan was his 17th marathon, and he also cross-trains by playing tennis regularly.

Even so, he is not planning to slow down. “In May I will definitely take part in the Tutta Dritta [a very popular 10K race in Turin], it’s organized by my club, Borgaretto, to which I am very grateful,” he told La Repubblica. “And then who knows, if I’m feeling well in November, maybe I’ll consider the Turin Marathon.”

Finally, he also looks ahead with confidence. “I plan to keep running for another 10 years,” he said. “In 2027 here, I hope to do better.” And with that, the focus naturally shifts from what he has already achieved to how far this late-running journey can still go.

The Fauja Singh marathon run that challenged human limits

Marathon running has a long history of showing what age still can do, and even pushing past what people expect. One of the most famous names in this story is Fauja Singh, known as the “Turbaned Tornado.” Back in 2011, at the claimed age of 100, the British-Indian runner completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in a little over 8 hours. He even gained fame as the first centenarian to complete a full marathon. But it was never formally ratified in his record.

The reason is simple but important: He was never formally documented with a birth certificate in the year 1911 in rural India. For this reason, the claim of a 100-year-old marathon finisher was not officially verified by Guinness World Records, despite the success being greatly popularized. But at the same time, his path was quite unusual.

Fauja Singh began serious running very late, around the age of 89, after seeing marathon runners on television. He ran his first marathon in London in 2000, and later improved his personal best to around 5 hours 40 minutes in the 2003 Toronto Marathon. Over time, he also completed several marathons in his 90s.

His early life was very different from what his running story suggests. He was born in the village of Beas Pind, Jalandhar district of the then British India. He had weak legs as a child and could not walk till about five years old. Also, he never went to school, but he worked on the family farm and became stronger in daily life than in official sports.

From 98-year-old finishes in the past to 90-year-old records in the present, marathon running keeps returning to one idea: the body may grow old, but it does not necessarily determine the end.