53-year-old Kamalamma: Running against the odds

MYSURU: It’s 5 in the morning.  A 53-year-old woman laces up her shoes and runs on the muddy roads of her village.  She is sweating out at this age not to burn calories. This has become a routine for this Masters 

The athlete who is prepping for her first international  Masters Athletics championship this year. This is the story of grit and determination of  Kamalamma, a daily wage labourer at a coffee estate in Kodagu. She has defied all odds to run her way to glory.

Kamalamma, a resident of Thaluru village in Somwarpet taluk, who earns a meagre Rs 160 per day, even today climbs a tree to pluck pepper as part of her work. Having worked as a daily wage earner for nearly four decades, she never dreamt that one day she would venture into the field of sports and bag medals.

The gritty runner who has won a few medals in her two-year-long sports career credits all her success to her son Ravi T S, who encouraged her to participate in the state and national- level Masters Athletics championships.

Ravi, a national-level athlete, is presently working as an athletic coach at the University of Mysore on a temporary basis. Two years ago, he saw a group of veteran athletes running at a Masters Athletics meet. It was then that he thought of convincing his mother to give it a try.

“It was when I went to watch this meet that an idea flashed. When I, as a coach, could train several youngsters gain stamina through practice, I thought why not train my mother who already possessed a lot of stamina and strength working as a daily wage earner. That’s when I convinced my mother to start practising running.“

Ravi’s words motivated Kamalamma who later strived hard to learn new skills from him. He taught his mother the basic fitness workouts and later shared his knowledge on various athletic techniques.   After a rigorous training for two months, Kamalamma developed a progressive plan for training and competition and prepared for the unexpected.

Initially, Ravi wanted to make his mother a good sprinter but found that her level of speed was not enough for short distance. That’s when he decided to train her for long-distance running.

In 2017, Kamalamma participated in the 38th State Masters Athletics and clinched the gold medal in the 1,500 metres running. She finished at a record time of 7 minutes 42 seconds and bagged her first state medal.

She went on to achieve her very first national medal while clocking up a new record during the 38th National Masters Athletics 2017 in Hyderabad where she took part in the 800m running event. She touched the finishing line at a record 3 minutes 33 seconds. The more interesting fact about her achievement is that she secured all these medals by running barefoot. Only recently her son got her a pair of shoes.

Thanks to her exceptional skill in 800m and 1,500m running, she was selected for the World Masters Athletics Championship held in Spain in 2018. But owing to financial problem and lack of sponsorship, she couldn’t participate in it. She was also selected for the Masters Athletics meet held in China and Sri Lanka but had to skip those events, again due to financial crunch. 

Kamalamma presently lives in a ‘Janatha’ house with her husband who is a paralytic. Four days in a week, from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm, she works as a daily wage labourer in the coffee plantation while she has reserved two days in the week exclusively to practise running. 

Even after crossing all the hurdles to reach this position, Kamalamma now doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to support her career. The money she earns and the salary of her son are not even enough to lead a decent livelihood. But, Ravi doesn’t want to see his mother’s glorious career end due to money matters. He is making all attempts to find sponsorship to send her to the World Masters Athletics Championships to be held in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia this year and has asked her not to skip her practice sessions.

If any financial assistance was provided by the government, Ravi says, “Government has not given any financial aid. Nor did the sports department, which says they provide assistance only to the youths”
Kamalamma attributes all her success to her son. “Aging has never slowed me down,” says Kamalamma who is presently preparing to participate in the National  Masters Athletics meet to be held in the first week of February. 

She believes that running will help in setting goals and builds strong sportsmanship. ‘Working hard in the coffee plantation all these years is the secret of my energy,” she says with a smile.

FAST  & GLORY:

• Kamalamma has participated in two state-level and National- level  Masters Athletics meet till now.

• She secured first in 1,500 metres dash (50+ category) and in 800m at the 38th State Masters Athletics meet held at Hoskote stadium in December 2017.

• Secured third place in 800m ((50+ category) at the 38th National Masters Athletics Championship-2017 organised at Gachibowli stadium, Hyderabad.

• Finished in the fourth position in 1500m running at the 39th National Masters Athletics Championship-2018 held in February 2018.