Fauja Singh is recognized as the first 100-year-old to ever run a marathon. The great-grandfather, now 103, continues to run or walk every day. Nicknamed the "Turbaned Tornado," he took up running to overcome his grief after the death of his wife and a son. He ran his first marathon at age 89. The key to life: "Laughter and happiness," he says. "That's your remedy for everything." 
Ruth Frith died February 28 at the age of 104. At 102, the Australian native was the oldest living competitor at the World Masters Games in Sydney, where she won several gold medals and set world records. Her advice for a long life? Avoid smoking, drinking and vegetables. She was also an optimist: "Every year brings something new. I've always been content with what I have." 
James Sisnett was born on February 22, 1900, in Barbados. He made it to 113. He worked as a blacksmith, a sugar factory worker and a farmer before retiring at age 70. His longevity made him a local celebrity. His only real health challenge toward the end of his life was hearing loss. He died "peacefully in his sleep at home" in May 2013. 
Mississippi Winn was born on March 31, 1897, in Benton, Louisiana, and she lived to be 113. She maintained her independence until age 103; at 105, she was still walking and working out daily at a local track. Winn said exercise and an optimistic attitude helped her stay healthy for most of her life. She worked primarily as a domestic and child caretaker. She died in January 2011. 
Jiroemon Kimura was born April 19, 1897, and died June 12, 2013, at the age of 116. The retired Japanese postman attributed his long life to eating light, working in the sunshine and not smoking. After his postal career, he worked on a farm: "I am always looking up towards the sky; that is how I am." Of his six siblings, five lived to the age of 90. He died of natural causes. 
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875, and lived to the age of 122 in Arles, France (home of the painter Vincent Van Gogh, whom she met as a little girl). At 85, she took up fencing lessons. At 100, she was still riding her bike. She said she ate more than two pounds of chocolate a week and only quit smoking at age 120 -- not for health reasons, but because she could not see well enough to light her cigarettes. She credited her longevity to port wine, her sense of humor and a diet rich in olive oil. She died in August 1997. 
Ann Nixon Cooper became famous after President-elect Barack Obama used her story on election night 2008 to talk about the country's progress. "She was born just a generation past slavery," Obama said. "At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot." She died in 2009 at age 107. The secret to her long life, she said, was being cheerful: "I've always been a happy person, a giggling person, a wide-mouthed person." She also kept fit, dancing the electric slide until age 103. 
Alexander Imich, a New Yorker who had been certified as the world's oldest living man, died Sunday, June 8, at the age of 111. Imich was born in Poland on February 4, 1903, but fled when the Nazis took over in 1939. Despite a doctorate in zoology, Imich's passion was investigating paranormal activity. He detailed his encounters with the supernatural in "Incredible Tales of the Paranormal," a journal that was published when he was 92. 
The oldest living woman alive is Misao Okawa, a 116-year-old from Japan. She was born March 5, 1898, and had three children. Her husband died in 1931. She kept in shape throughout much of her life. At 102, she said she did leg squats to keep healthy. She didn't start using a wheelchair until she turned 110. She currently lives in a nursing home. 
Edward Rondthaler was born on June 9, 1905, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he died in 2009 at the age of 104. He was a noted typographer, earning a national reputation for helping to usher in the age of photographic typesetting, according to The New York Times. Photographic typesetting was an easier way to print than hot-metal type. Rondthaler credited cold showers with his longevity. He died at his home in Cedar City, Utah.
- Research found people who felt younger than their age lived longer than those who felt their age or older
- Scientists don't know what the link is the causes the effect
- Other studies show that optimism and conscientiousness helps people live longer
(CNN) -- Go ahead lie about your age. It may be the very thing that helps you live a longer life.
If those fibbers truly believe that they are younger than what it says on their birth certificate, a new study shows they are among a group of people who have a lower death rate.
That's compared with those who felt their age or who even feel older than their years.
The land of the elders
Study: Feel young, live longer 
Silver Dancers 
113-year-old lies to get on Facebook 
Kiddie's mortality meltdown The new research letter is published in JAMA Internal Medicine online.
The study looked at data from from 6,489 people with an average age of 65.8 years who reported that they felt a little less than 10 years younger. What's interesting is most people in the study didn't feel like their actual age. Most said they felt about three years younger. Only a tiny percent, some 4.8%, felt at least a year older than their actual age.
When University College London researchers followed up on these people over the next eight years, the scientists found only a little over 14% of those who felt younger than their years had died. That was compared with the more than 24% of the people who reported feeling older or feeling their age who had died. Some 18% of the people who felt like their chronological age died in that same time period.
Why happiness is healthy
The researchers say they want to better understand what made the difference with this group.
"Possibilities include a broader set of health behaviors than we measured (such as maintaining a healthy weight and adherence to medical advice), and greater resilience, sense of mastery and will to live among those who feel younger than their age," the study concludes. "Self-perceived age has the potential to change, so interventions may be possible. Individuals who feel older than their actual age could be targeted with health messages promoting positive health behaviors and attitudes toward aging."
Dr. Sharon Bergquist, a physician and assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine who specializes in healthy aging, isn't surprised by the results.
"Research is showing us that personality can so be tied to your destiny," Bergquist said.
Your happiness type matters
New research into the link between personality and aging finds that there are two main traits that seem to help people live a longer life: conscientiousness and optimism.
People who have both traits may have more of a will to do the right thing to live a healthy lifestyle that can keep them healthy long into old age.
"Aging well can certainly become a self-fulfilling prophecy," she said.
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