62-yr-old Army man completes marathon in 74 minutes

At the age of 62, Captain Raghavendra Doddihal, a retired army officer and now the chief engineer of Reach 4 of Metro, is a proud man for having completed the TCS 10K Marathon in 74 minutes.

He has accomplished the feat for three successive years since 2013 and wishes to improve his time next year.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Captain Doddihal, who has been serving in the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for the last six years said, “Coming from an army background, fitness is inbuilt. In all my professional life – both in the army and at BMRCL, I have never taken a medical leave.”

On how he prepared at this age for the marathon, he said, “Apart from playing weekly tennis and golf since my army days, I walk four kilometres every day. For the past fifteen days, I have been going to the Sankey Tank to prepare for the marathon and did the full 10 km run twice. Yesterday, I took complete rest so as to be fully prepared for the D-day today.”

On the changes he witnessed in the past three years, he said, “This time, the number of participants has gone up and one has to make way among many without hitting another runner.”

Sharing his fitness mantra, the captain said, “I am a vegetarian and eat simple food. The most important thing is to remain fit, active and be disciplined, so that even at a ripe age, one should be able to carry out one's day-to-day works,” he said.