Aged 80, India's marathon man Ashis Roy completes his 114th race

Gurgaon - Ashis Roy, the marathon man of India, ran his 114th endurance race here on Sunday.

The 80-year-old cardiologist participated in the 42.195 km race organised by Running and Living.com, completing it in seven hours and 52 minutes. The race commenced from Club Florence at Sushant Lok, Sector 56 and had four loops of running before finishing at the same spot.

Roy, a Delhi resident, completed his 113th marathon clocking six hours and 47 minutes Aug 25, 2011 in the United States. Thereafter he developed a spinal injury in November 2011, paralysing his right lower limb, and underwent a spinal surgery to fix six nails in his last two vertebrae.

Roy recovered from the disability by running regularly and ran a half-marathon in the US after six months of his operation. He also participated in the Delhi Half Marathon Sep 20.

“I have had osteoarthritis in my right knee for the last eight years. Despite my injury and my physical problems, I still ran. I had to literally drag my right knee in the second half of today’s race and it got very difficult. I almost had tears in my eyes but did not want to abandon it,” the Shillong-born Roy told IANS.

“I had been improving my timings until last year when I had my surgery.”

A retired wing commander of the Indian Air Force, Roy took to running marathons at the age of 52 and by 75 he had completed 82 races. He went on to complete his 100th marathon in January 2010.

Roy next plans to participate in the Mumbai Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in January.