Jeba runs to success at the Kathmandu Marathon

Hamida Akter was heading toward Curzon Hall after class to catch the bus home. She noticed a crowd on the gymnasium grounds. Curious about why so many people were running, she asked someone and learned that the inter-hall sports competition was underway.

Students were doing laps for the five-kilometre run. She found out that although there were events for women, they didn’t include such long-distance races, the maximum was 400 metres. When she said she wanted to take part in a marathon, someone exclaimed, “You won’t be able to run that far!” Another added, “Women running a marathon? Won’t they just get dizzy and collapse?”

Jeba took up these remarks as a challenge. Born and raised in Dhaka, she had always been keen sports. She was on the divisional champion handball team while studying at Adamjee Cantonment College.

She advanced to the third year of her MIS (Management and Information Systems) programme at Dhaka University and that day saw the running on the gymnasium field. She learnt about the inter-hall sports competition, went home and immediately contacted the university hall. But by then, the year’s events at Sufia Kamal Hall were over.

The following year Jeba first enrolled in the hall volleyball team. Practice was at night, so she began staying in the dorm occasionally. She went on to join the football, cricket, badminton, handball and athletics teams. In 2020, Jeba became the hall champion in athletics.

By then she had already signed up for marathons. Jeba’s short-distance running began in 2018 with the university’s five-kilometre race, and she gradually started extending her range.

She successfully completed the 10-kilometre race organised by The Great Bangladesh Run in Narsingdi. Later, on the hilly trails of Bandarban, she finished first among women in the 21-kilometre Bandrathon half-marathon. She's been running ever since!

In 2019, she ran 45 kilometres in the Mawphlang–Mawphu (Maokyrowat) Trail Ultra in Meghalaya, India. That same year, she ran the 50-kilometre ultramarathon in Gazipur, Bangladesh.

In 2021, she took part in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Dhaka Marathon and finished first among the women, earning a cheque for Tk 500,000. In 2022, she was placed fifth among women in the Ladakh Marathon in India. And on 1 November, in Nepal’s Kathmandu Marathon, Jeba finished second among the women in the full-distance marathon.

How did Jeba's family react when, after completing her BBA and MBA from Dhaka University, she decided to become an athlete. She replied, “At first I was too scared to tell them. For months I didn’t take any of my medals or crests home. I kept everything hidden in the hall. But since I was doing well in the competitions, TV channels would interview me.

Whenever my father sat down to watch the news, my heart would start pounding. Sometimes, if he got up from in front of the TV, I would quietly switch it off and walk away. My name would appear in the newspapers too. If any relatives saw it, they would inform my family.”

Jeba continued, “Gradually they found out. Their reactions softened and I finally won their acceptance. But it took almost two years. Now my family is very supportive of me.”

This athlete is also a teacher at the Australian International School in Dhaka. Alongside managing her classroom, Jeba has run in more than a hundred marathons over the past seven years. Her cabinet is filled with crests and medals.

Jeba has had a variety of interesting experiences while participating in races. Before the 2022 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Dhaka Marathon, she had trained so intensively in a short period that she fell ill. She started the marathon lagging behind, her feet in excruciating pain, moving slowly, walking step by step. People even laughed at her along the way.

An ambulance followed her the entire route. Midway through the marathon, near the medical booth in Banani, she sat down on the road. Then she massaged her own feet and began walking again. After a while, she started jogging lightly. During that time, many people advised her to withdraw from the marathon.

Yet Jeba was determined to finish the race at any cost. During that marathon, she rested for nearly one and a half hours. She paused, but she did not quit. In the end, she completed the marathon and found a unique sense of calm and peace. After that race, Jeba became even more conscious about her fitness.

Jeba says, “Every time I cross the finishing line abroad carrying the national flag, I become extremely emotional. People around shout ‘Bangladesh, Bangladesh’ and applaud. I want to experience such moments many more times in my life. I want to cross finishing lines that no Bangladeshi woman has ever touched before.”