Kumar’s passion for running; keen to revive interest in long distance running

Listen to this article:

Bimlesh Kumar (dark blue vest) during a Jet Runners Club Fun Run back in 2019. Picture: FILE

Fun runs were highly anticipated social events in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

And the festive mini marathons would often draw people from all walks of life – from families to businessmen and even students.

The Fiji Times and Australian national carrier Qantas often sponsored the events and it was here that many potential long distance runners were identified.

Bimlesh Kumar was one of them.

The Votualevu, Nadi, resident would go on to become a household name as one of the best long distance runners Fiji has ever produced, and he even went on to represent the country at numerous athletics meets across the world.

Like many athletes at the time, Kumar’s sports journey was a tale of grit and determination.

It all started in the interior of Votualevu where he lived with his parents and five siblings on their little sugarcane farm.

Kumar did not even know he had it in him because he had never participated in any athletics events while attending Votualevu Primary School and later Swami Vivekananda College in Nadi.

But all that changed when one day in 1993 while returning from school, Kumar was approached by Parshotam Lal, a friend who was an athlete.

“He lived in the area and we knew each other because both our parents were cane farmers,” the 48-year-old recalled.

Parshotam, a few years older than Kumar, had been taking part in fun runs and invited Kumar to join him that year.

At first, Kumar was hesitant because the Form Seven student had never taken part in athletics before and he felt that running in a real competition was too big a step for a beginner.

Parshotam managed to coax the teenager with the promise of new running shoes.

“He said that if I went with him, he would give me a new pair of Nike sneakers. That’s when I decided I would go.”

The seven-kilometre Fun Run was held in Lautoka and was sponsored by The Fiji Times.

“There were about 700 athletes competing that day. Imagine, it was my first-ever athletics competition but I managed to finish the race.”

After his first taste of competitive running, Kumar fell in love with the sport and began training with Parshotam in preparation for his secondary school zone athletics meet later that same year.

A few weeks later, Parshotam told Kumar that another fun run was coming up but this time it would be in Suva.

“I had never been to Suva. So I decided that by hook or by crook, I would take part in that race.

“That’s how badly I wanted to visit Suva.”

Unfortunately, his father disallowed Kumar from travelling to Suva and reminded him of his duties on their cane farm.

“I was very sad but I came up with a plan to trick my father into allowing me to go.”

With the help of a friend, Kumar wrote a letter where he signed off as their principal and said the school was sending him to participate at the fun run in Suva.

“We mailed it to my father’s post office box. We rarely got letters and when my parents learnt that there was a letter for them, everyone was surprised.

“We received the letter and my brother read it out to my father.”

Beaming with pride that their son had been chosen to represent the school, Kumar’s parents made preparations for his trip to the capital.

His loose tongue, however, resulted in a neighbour informing his father of the ruse.

“Before I left, I told one of my neighbours about what I had done and later found out that he informed my father of my trickery.”

When Kumar found out that his father knew, he was rightfully terrified.

“Luckily, I won a $200 cash prize at the event and my father’s anger quickly disappeared when he found out how much I had won because $200 was big money in those days.

“After that run in Suva, I knew that this was something I was good at and I wanted to pursue it to see how far I could go.”

In the ‘90s, Fiji organised and held international athletic meets every year that featured local and regional athletes.

Kumar participated in the Fiji International meet in 1994 and came fourth in the 5000m event.

It was at this meet that his talent in long distance running was recognised by Atma Maharaj of the Fiji Athletics Association.

“Before I knew it, I was contacted by the Fiji Athletics Association asking if I wanted to train with national reps.”

Two years later, Kumar was selected into the national squad that participated at the World Athletics Cross Country Championship in South Africa.

“There were six athletes from Fiji who went to Cape Town, three of those athletes were from Votualevu.”

After the competition, he again represented Fiji at the World Road Relay in Denmark later that same year.

“Parshotam, Jiten Prakash and I were the runners from Votualevu who were in the national squad.”

Before that, Kumar had joined the Fiji Teachers College in 1994 and had started teaching at Tagaqe District School in Nadroga.

“Just after high school, I joined the teachers college for two years before I started teaching.”

He again left the country in 1999 for the World Cross Country Championship, this time in Belfast, Ireland.

“I continued teaching and running at the same time. At this point, I knew that I wouldn’t be retiring from running any time soon.”

In 2001, Kumar managed to bag a gold medal in the 21km, and a silver medal in the 10km event at the Melanesian Games in Suva.

That same year, he competed at the Pacific Mini Games in Norfolk Island, where he won a bronze medal in the 10km event.

“I had a lot of time to train because I was teaching and used to train early in the morning and after school. That was when I would do my daily road runs.”

He stopped running in 2003 due to work issues, only to start again 10 years later.

“When I stopped because of work in 2003, I thought I wouldn’t go back to running. But after I was diagnosed with insomnia in 2013, I was told by doctors that the only way to help get rid of the disorder was to start running again.”

Insomnia is a sleeping disorder where a person has difficulty sleeping or enjoying a good night’s sleep.

“And because of this, I had developed a bad habit of drinking beer before bed to help me sleep.”

During that time, he was transferred to Korovuto College, Nadi, where he took up the post of physical education teacher and was given the
responsibility of grooming and developing athletes for secondary school zone meets.

“From 2003 to 2006, I prepared and trained many athletes for zone meets and I believe they had the talent but not the proper equipment to help them train.”

Despite the challenge, in 2007 Korovuto College won the Western Athletics Zone under Kumar’s guidance.

“In 2002, Korovuto was last in the zone meet and winning the zone in 2007, what I believe was the first time, was a huge achievement for the students.”

Korovuto managed to hold their title as zone champions for the next seven years before Kumar was transferred to Nawai Secondary School.

“I really believe I had made an impact on the lives of the students and athletes I’ve trained in Korovuto before moving.”

In 2013, Kumar, together with his younger brother Abhinesh Kumar and Parshotam Lal, formed an athletics club called the Jet Runners Club.

The reason behind forming the club was to encourage young people to get involved in long distance running and to also promote healthier lifestyles for youngsters.

“We noticed there was hardly anyone interested in long distance running and we wanted to change that.”

Kumar said one of his most memorable runs was when he crossed the finish line first in the 21km Bula Marathon that was held in Nadi in 1998.

“That was where I knew I could be one of the best long distance runners in the country.

“My best time so far in the 21km event is 33 minutes and 19 seconds and that was at the Pacific Mini Games in Norfolk Island in 2001 where I missed out on the gold medal by two seconds.”

Kumar said running always gave him a deep sense of satisfaction and it was almost like a drug that he needed to take every now and then.

The feeling, experienced by almost all athletes, is known as the “runners high”.

That is the state the human body is in when it releases hormones known as endorphins after a long workout, it begins after a race and lasts even into the next day.

Kumar said he believed that long distance running was a dying sport and did not interest people as much as it used to in the past.

He also said that ever since the fun runs had stopped, people no longer paid attention to long distance events or the people who sacrificed their time and went to great effort to make the nation proud.

“I really believe if we bring back these runs, it will spark that interest once more.”

Kumar said he still enjoys running and does not think he will be stopping anytime soon.

Today, he is the assistant principal of Mulomulo Secondary School in Nadi and is also the secretary of the Lautoka Football Association.

He lives with his wife and daughter at Field 40, Lautoka.

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 29
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category