George Takei has given up running at the age of 88 after having surgery on his foot

He told the Guardian newspaper: "I believe in discipline. I do want to - as we say - live long and prosper ... I was a marathoner. I started in my 40s, my husband, Brad, trained me, and I've done six in total.

"The last was the London marathon in 1991. London's one of my favourite cities. You have to run over cobbles, so it was horrible on the ankles. I ended up aching all over, leaning on buildings for support.

"I recently had surgery on my foot, so I think that is life teaching me not to engage in any more crazy 26.2-mile runs for a while."

George previously opened up about his love of distance races in a post on his blog, admitting he had to call time on running marathons after the "punishing" race in the UK capital.

He wrote: "Since that punishing run, I have become a steadfast follower of, what is called, the Law of Nature. It decrees that as time passes, the mind is supposed to grow with insights as the body gives up its strength.

"It didn't take my mind to inform my body that the latter is true. I can't run 26.2 miles anymore. My days of running marathons are over.

"However, I still savor the good memories of those days strategizing with other runners on the long distance runs, going on long, sweaty training runs with them, and sharing what we learned with each other after each run ... "

He went on to compare the experience of taking part in a marathon to his long-running acting career, adding: "One of the things we often talked about was the 'second wind' - that burst of renewed energy that runners seem to get at some point in the run, when we are feeling totally spent, straining to lift the feet, and dog-tired but determined to keep staggering forward.

"Suddenly, the feet inexplicably regain their easy stride, the breathing becomes relaxed and steady, and the pace picks up. This usually happens at about the two-third point in the run for most runners.

"That notion of the 'second wind' seems to be holding true for my career as well this past year. My work schedule seemed to suddenly pick up renewed energy. As the months passed, the pace has ramped up to warp speed. "