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Thursday September 27, 2012
Serving Surrey and North Delta
On the run at age 101
Short film honours Maple Batalia – one year after her murder
Slain SFU student remembered
‘Turbaned Tornado’ to take part in Surrey marathon this Sunday
by Sheila Reynolds SHE WAS a student, actress, model and aspiring actress.
But Maple Batalia was also a budding artist, occasionally putting her hand to drawing and painting. It’s those images that have provided inspiration for a short film being screened tomorrow afternoon (Friday, Sept. 28) at SFU Surrey. The day marks one year since the 19-yearold was gunned down in the parkade at the university after a late night of studying. A suspect has yet to be arrested in the case. The film Thy Beauty’s Doom, by writer/director Krystal Kiran Garib, who also acts, dances and sings in the short movie, is based on sonnets 14 and 66 by William Shakespeare. Everyone is welcome to attend the screening. Admission of $10 will be accepted at the door and will benefit the Maple Batalia was gunned down Maple Batalia Bursary in North Surrey on Sept. 28, 2011. for the Arts. A song from the film will also be available on iTunes, with funds from its sale going toward the bursary. The film will be shown at 2:30 p.m. in room 3090 at the campus on 102 Avenue and 134 Street. Later, on Friday evening at 7 p.m., there will also be a candlelight vigil at a new dedication site in Holland Park, south of the fountain near King George Boulevard and 100 Avenue.
by Kevin Diakiw
“...why not die on the track where I do what I love to do?”
EVAN SEAL / THE LEADER
Fauja Singh Chindsa runs around the track in Bear Creek Park in preparation for the Surrey International Music Marathon on Sunday. Fauja, who is 101 years old, is participating in The Leader-sponsored Mayor’s 5K event.
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IT WAS after the tragic loss of one of his sons in the 1990s that Fauja Singh Chindsa started to run in earnest. He began running greater distances, and when he hit 20 kilometres, he set his eyes on a 42-kilometre marathon. The 101-year-old has now run several, and holds the world record for the oldest person to complete a marathon – a feat he completed in Toronto last year, finishing the 26.2-mile race in eight hours, 25 minutes, 17 seconds. His best marathon time ever was four-and-a-half hours. Chindsa will be running in the Mayor’s 5K race, sponsored Fauja Chindsa by The Leader, this Sunday in North Surrey. At a media event at Bear Creek Park on Tuesday, it’s clear the man who has been dubbed the “Turbaned Tornado” has become a celebrity. “He is the honour of our nation,” said Chenchel Singh Sidhu, 75, who gathered with about 10 other IndoCanadian men to meet Chindsa.
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