This 87-year-old trains so much that his family have threatened to set fire to his shoes!

John Starbrook, is the oldest runner entered for this year's London Marathon. The 87-year-old trains so much that his family have threatened to set fire to his shoes. And tomorrow the super-grandad will be lining up for his 51st marathon. John, who only took up running at the age of 43, credits his sporty lifestyle with keeping him young, explaining: “I am always mixing with people in their 50s and 60s. "I’ve been down to the old age people’s place but it depressed me so much I came away. I didn’t have much in common with them." John’s determination may have its roots in his tough childhood . Born in 1930s London, his dad died when he was just five months old, and his mum struggled to cope with a new baby and her older children so John ended up in Nazareth House orphanage. During the war he was evacuated to Bristol and then Swansea before returning to Croydon, aged 15. “I joined a swimming club then and that was the start of it,” he explains. “My first job was on a milk round. After the war all the old fellas used to do the milk and they used to take young lads with them to do the walking in and out because the old boys were too old to do it. “We went out on the horse and cart and then I had to do all the running in and out of each house with the bottles. That kept me fit as well.” This year will be John’s 30th London marathon – amazing considering he nearly gave up after his first one in 1983. “I heard the marathon advertised on the radio so I thought I’d like to have a go at that, so I started running. “I did my first one and thought I am never, ever going to do that again it was so hard. But then I entered the next year and I’ve done it almost every year since.

posted Thursday April 19th