As a schoolboy, the only thought on Gopi Thonakal’s mind was to run the longest race available. But the playground at his disposal could accommodate only a 200-metre track!
Nearly two decades on, the little steps he took on the lofty terrain of the Government Higher Secondary School Ground in Kakkavayal, Wayanad has indeed extended to the longest race possible in athletics – the marathon, all of 42.195 kilometres. And from the earthy settings of his school ground, his evolution in running is taking him to the grandest stage – the Olympics.
Perhaps, the wondrous heights of cool and idyllic Wayanad, where people go about their lives at a mean height of more than 1,000 metres above sea level, has more to do with Gopi’s rise than the length of the track that initiated him into athletics. For good measure, his ambitions were high too, that of competing in the Olympics some day. But never had he thought that the opportunity would come in the marathon. All his career, he had focused on the 10,000m and 5,000m events, before being asked to run as a pacemaker to help a marathon athlete — Nitendra Singh Rawat — qualify for the quadrennial showpiece. Not only did he do the job entrusted but also stepped up a gear to achieve the qualification mark himself! That too when the 28-year old had never run more than 30 kilometres in his entire life. At the end of it all, he says, he felt he had a lot more energy in reserve than he had fathomed on that fateful day in January this year, in the Mumbai Marathon.
“Since I lacked the experience to manage the 42km race, I wasn’t even sure if I could complete the race,” Gopi recalls.
“So I could not use my full energy, wondering whether how my body will respond or whether it will become very tight at the end. But after the race, I felt I had a lot of energy in reserve. I didn’t feel too tired, maybe because of the excitement of what I had achieved. I will be able to definitely improve my timing in the next race as I will be able to plan the entire course much better and use up the energy in a structured manner.”
While that is about the physical energy that could yet bring out the best in the havaldar with the 11 Field Regiment of the Artillery Centre in Hyderabad, there is more to the mental energy that has helped him climb up in life from a humble background. A single child to paddy farmer Babu Thonakal and Thankam in an impoverished neighbourhood of Moolankavu in Sulthan Bathery taluk, Gopi owes his growth to a woman of exemplary compassion – KP Vijayi, his physical education teacher at school.
While she did her duty of identifying and nurturing Gopi’s talent for distance running, the noble soul in Vijayi took command of her promising ward’s guardianship and raised him like her own son in her own house. For Gopi, she proved to be a true friend, philosopher and guide. “My life changed after coming under the wings of Vijayi teacher,” he acknowledges.
“I completed my education from 8th standard onwards while staying at her house. She helped me in every aspect, not just athletics. She used to refer to me as her son. Whatever doubt I had, with regard to anything, I would go to teacher first. And her advice has always proved to be invaluable. She raised me by the hand to this level. More than a trainer, she was like a mentor.”
And ever since, Gopi, to this day, has always returned from any outstation trip to Vijayi’s house in Muttil rather than his parents’ place. The latter apparently had little to boast about. His army job has now given him enough to dream of having a decent home for himself and his parents. Having bought 10 cents of land at Sultan Bathery, work is about to begin on a new house. “I’m doing it with loans. No government help has been offered,” he says. At any rate, that should certainly be a big relief for his parents whom Gopi had shifted to his residence in Hyderabad at the start of the year.
But it is Vijayi who holds the most revered place for Gopi. So much so, he would entrust none but his teacher to arrange his marriage. “Have you got anyone in mind?” teacher Vijayi enquired of her adopted son. And Gopi replied: “No, you can decide. I will be happy with the bride that you find for me.” If that does not portray their special relationship, then perhaps nothing ever will.
Gopi started athletics while he was in class 5, staying at the nearby Government pre-metric hostel in Theneri. By the time he was in class 7, the teachers had spotted his talent for long-distance running, starting off with 600m. In another two years, he began competing in the 1,500-3,000m events, finally shifting to the 5,000m while a plus one student.
“Gopi was a very well-behaved boy,” remembers the now retired Vijayi. “He didn’t seem to be bothered or distracted by any external factors that usually affect teenagers. He was dedicated to what he was doing and didn’t lose interest at any stage of his development.”
He first announced himself in the Wayanad district schools championship in 2006-07 while in class 9, finishing first in the 3,000m when everyone expected another athlete to win. “He came round the bend beautifully to overtake the leader. That was a fantastic sight to behold,” Vijayi recollects.
The subsequent growth, however, has not been easy. If anything, he is a late bloomer. In no track event did he finish first in the much-celebrated Kerala state schools championships. Hence, he never hogged the limelight during his schooldays. Many would have left the field with so many years passing by without success. But Gopi was made of steelier stuff, nothing giving him greater motivation than the hope of finding a job to support his struggling parents.
“I believed that I would get a medal in a national event one day. I also yearned for a job. The situation was a bit bad at home. So if I had to get a job, then a good performance was imperative. Therefore, I was determined to keep practising come what may,” he says.
His only win at school level came in the 5,000m cross country event for juniors while being a plus-two student, his last state schools championship. He could register just one track gold as a junior athlete, in the 3,000m race in the U-20 category of the Kerala State Athletics Association (KSAA) meet.
His determination yielded fruit when the Indian Army came calling in 2009, while he was a third-year BA Economics student at the Mar Athanasius College in Kothamangalam where he was coached by the current KSAA secretary PI Babu. And the opportunity to train at the Army Sports Institute in Pune since 2012 has helped bring the best out of him.
“I was constantly improving under Babu sir. So there was an expectation that one day I would be able to achieve a good timing. I was running 10,000m in 32 minutes in college. After I joined the Army, it has come down to 29.10 minutes,” he stresses, referring to the timing he achieved while winning gold and setting a games record in the South Asian Games in Guwahati earlier this year.
Coming from the background that he had, the initial training of a regular armyman was tough but never daunting for Gopi. If anything, the experience strengthened his resolve. After the basic training, he was absorbed in the driver and mechanic trade.
“Army training helped me prepare mentally and become stronger. To get a job, I was ready to undergo any difficulty. When others used to say that the training was tough, I would console them that it was alright and that the difficult phase would pass,” he recounts.
Talking of difficult phases, the ward was there by the teacher’s side even as she showed remarkable fortitude in overcoming the crippling blows of losing her husband and only son, both of whom were bedridden, to the claws of death. “Gopi is like a son. And he was there when I needed him,” says Vijayi, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
The fighter, who wanted to become a police officer if he hadn’t become a runner, has a clear message for youngsters: “There is no need to abandon what you hold close to your heart. In my experience, in any field, if we work hard with 100 per cent involvement, and honesty, we will get a result sooner or later. There is no point in withdrawing midway.”
While the Olympics berth in the marathon was an unexpected turn of events, has he signed the truce with his career as a 10,000m runner? “Qualifying for the Olympics is a turning point in life. It was a dream. It was expected in the 10,000m or 5,000m. The marathon was so sudden. But 10,000 is my favourite,” he stresses.
For now, though, he is tackling the challenge of shifting from the track to a road event while preparing for the gruelling marathon head on. “Long distance workouts anyway involve both road and track. Just that for the marathon, we have to do longer workouts. In 10,000m and 5,000m, the focus is on improving speed. But now the focus has shifted to endurance, increasing the workouts to 30 and 40km. The basic plan for the 42km race is to calculate the distance per kilometre. The target is to cover each kilometre in 3.8 minutes to maintain a pace in relation to the national record of 2 hours and 12 minutes,” he elaborates.
While an Olympic medal, especially for a first-timer like him, is not an easy target, the country’s athletics fraternity can rest assured that Gopi, the indefatigable warrior that he is, would find an extra gear to get the best out of himself.