LONDON — His "100th" birthday party last year was covered by the BBC and his run in the London Marathon on Sunday is being touted by one of the country's best-known public relations firms.
Pierre "Buster" Martin and his backers say that if he completes the race, he will be the oldest person to ever finish a marathon. The only problem: He may be no older than 94.
Martin, who says he is 101 but looks as though he could be 20 years younger, rises before the sun to run, eat a hearty breakfast and arrive at work by 5 a.m. After his day toiling for one of Britain's best-known plumbing companies, he often walks a few more miles before heading to the pub for a pint of beer.
"I don't know why they make all the fuss about me really," he says. "I was asked to [run the marathon]. I said I'd try."
Martin, often called Britain's oldest regularly employed worker, is hardly a newcomer on the celebrity scene.
During his "centennial" year, he also celebrated hitting No. 26 on the British music charts as a debut drummer for a geriatric rock group, the Zimmers, on the band's vibrant cover of the Who classic "My Generation."
"I'm a bit of a nutter, so they put me on the drums. It was the first and only time I've ever played the drums," he said. "There's always a first time for everything. You're never too old."
Martin also took a brief turn as FHM men's magazine's "agony uncle," answering questions from the young male audience. Asked by a man in his late 20s whether he should marry his girlfriend to make her happy even though he wasn't in love, Martin replied in his characteristic, no-nonsense style, "If you don't like her, then why the hell are you with her?"
None of that prepared him for the attention he has received in his bid to take the longest run of his life.
This is Martin's first marathon, and he began training only in December when asked to represent the official charity of his employer, Pimlico Plumbers, for which Martin cleans and helps service a fleet of vans. The charity, the Rhys Daniels Trust, offers a "home away from home" for the families of children in hospital care.
As a former physical training instructor in the armed services, Martin said, he has always exercised.
"I used to do boxing and all that when I was in the forces. . . . You had to be fit."
