The India-born Biman Mullick, a 72-year-old campaigner for clean air, is set to run the 26.2 miles London Marathon, which has thousands of participants every year, quite a few of whom run for raising funds for various charities.
Biman, who is the honorary director of Cleanair: Campaign for a Smoke-free Environment, wants to draw public attention to smoking and its effects on health and the environment.
This is the first time he is participating in the long marathon, which is a wonder at his age, underlining his commitment to his campaign for clean air. Earlier he has participated in two half marathons.
The recent event of 13.1-mile race took place at the famous Formula 1 Motor Racing Circuit at Silverstone on March 19, 2006. Over 5,000 runners took part and only five of them were above 70.
Biman took 2h.56 mins, 19 secs to complete the race. This year he has broken his personal record by 20 mins, 18 secs.
Biman founded Cleanair in 1971 and has campaigned for a smoke-free environment since. In 1988 he received an award from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for his work. His fellow recipients were among others, former US President Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba.
{{/usCountry}}Biman founded Cleanair in 1971 and has campaigned for a smoke-free environment since. In 1988 he received an award from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for his work. His fellow recipients were among others, former US President Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba.
{{/usCountry}}In1969, Biman was the first person from overseas to design a Royal Mail postage stamp. This was "Gandhi stamp" which was the first United Kingdom postage stamp to commemorate an overseas leader.
In 1971, Biman also designed the first set of eight postage stamps for the new republic of Bangladesh.
Biman has been jogging regularly for the last 20 years. He said, "˜I'm now addicted to jogging and, I'm sure, it is a better addiction than an addiction to tobacco."