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April 14, 2008
With “Buster” Martin’s straggly beard, dry wit, and advanced years, his attempt to run the London Marathon was always going to present the PR people with an irresistible feel-good tale. At 101 years old, he would be the oldest man to complete the 26-mile course. But as he hobbled his way through the London drizzle yesterday, his story was beginning to unravel.
On Saturday The Times disclosed that Guinness World Records had refused to verify his claim to be the oldest marathon runner. Now it has emerged why the world record guardians will not be featuring Mr Martin in its celebrated publication. Internal correspondence between senior officials at the organisation, obtained by The Times, shows that Guinness has evidence that Mr Martin is a mere spring chicken of just 94.
Guinness received information that Mr Martin, whose real name is Pierre Jean Martin, told NHS staff that he was born on September 1, 1913, not 1906, as he now claims. A senior adviser to the world record company warned Guinness officials that Mr Martin “appears to be a fake, and more so, one being exploited by his company, which is using him to promote their services”.
Mr Martin is an employee of Pimlico Plumbers, which is represented by Max Clifford and has an entire section of its website devoted to its oldest employee. Four minders from Pimlico joined Mr Martin among the 35,000 runners on the course yesterday, all decked out in the firm’s regalia and carrying a large company flag.
Pimlico approached Guinness World Records two weeks ago, but has been unable to provide conclusive proof of Mr Martin’s age. He claimed to have been born in France, before moving to a British orphanage, explaining the lack of a British birth record. He said that he also married in France, but had no marriage certificate.
His wife, Iriana, he said, died in the mid-1950s, yet there is no record of her death. Among the 17 children he claimed to have fathered are Roberto, now 87, Rodrigues, 84, as well as triplets, Georgina, Georgia and Giselle, but The Times could find no record of their births. Mr Martin said that they had moved abroad. Guinness World Records was advised: “There is also downside risk associating Guinness with a questionable claim . . . more than just his age is in question, as ‘Buster’ Martin ‘likes to tell stories’.”
Pimlico Plumbers insisted that it had acted in good faith. Charlie Mullins, the managing director, said: “I can only go by the information that we’ve got.
“We have done nothing incorrect. This is not about a world record for us, it’s about an elderly man doing a great thing for charity.”
When confronted by The Times about the dispute over his age, Mr Martin said: “I know how long I have lived. There are always rumours from a lot of people who are jealous.”
He finished the race in slightly more than ten hours; his exact time will not be known until later date because the tracking system which monitors runners’ results was removed at 7pm, some 45 minutes before he crossed the finishing line. The oldest man to complete a marathon was the Greek runner Dimitrion Yordanidis, aged 98, in Athens in 1976. He finished in 7 hours 33 minutes.
Well done Buster, whatever your age to take part and complete a Marathon would be a feat whatever your age.
Carol
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