Unfailing Passion for Walking

The record for the maximum distance walked in a day by a quinquagenarian (a person who is in 50’s) is held by Dyandev Dhondiba Pathare, a 54-year-old farmer from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Recently, he set a national record for the most distance covered in a day by walking. He covered a total distance of 102 km in 19 hours. The record-making drive began at 2 pm on February 16, 2022 and ended at 9.10 am on February 17, 2022.

Dyandev hails from Jaule village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district. The famous social worker Anna Hazare’s village Ralegan Siddhi is just 8 km away from his village. His actual age at the time of making a walking record was 53 years 7 months 11 days. Dyandev says that when he turned 50, he started walking for the purpose of maintaining good health.

When asked from where he got the idea of making the record, Dyandev said that one day he was just doing some Google search on the Internet. Suddenly he came to know about a 24-year-old youth who had set a national record of walking 87.5 km in 21 hours. This national record of February 2021 was registered in the India Book of Records (IBR). From there he thought that this record had been made by a 24-year-old boy, while he himself was around 54 years old, so why not try and set a new record. The idea clicked and served the purpose.

Once he made up his mind, he just became obsessed for setting a new record for walking. He started keeping a track of how many kilometers were traveled daily. First, he walked 50 km in a day, then raised it to 60 km, and ultimately reached the level of 70 km a day. The practice continued and the numbers kept increasing. Finally, a day came when he covered 90 km in 21 hours. He was satisfied that at least he had acquired the ability to break the young man’s record. Then the practice of reducing the time and increasing the distance intensified and finally the day came when he set his new national record in the presence of the India Book of Records observers.

Dyandev (born on July 6, 1968) is a farmer by profession, which is a laborious job in itself. Still, he has a passion for walking. He mainly cultivates sugarcane and onion on his three acres of agricultural land. His two daughters got married while the son studies in class 12th, who also helps in farming in his spare time.

Dyandev himself could study up to 12th standard only. By the age of 40, he was suffering from seizures, due to which he could not find any suitable job. Presently he gets up at 4 in the morning and walks on the road near the village for about two hours every day. He is also very conscious in the matter of food intake and consumes 70 percent of the diet in raw form, including vegetables and fruits. Rest 30 percent of the diet is mostly boiled food. Every night he soaks pulses, peanuts and almonds in water, which he eats in the morning, before leaving for a walk.