Meet the Running Man: Sadik Hasan Jewel, Deputy Manager, Epyllion Knitwear Limited
Mr. Sadik runs almost 40 km a day from Savar to his Tejgaon office everyday and back. Let’s learn what drives the Running Man of Epyllion to push past physical limits every single day.
Sadik Hasan Jewel has always been physically active, running sprints, marathons and cycling at events all through his life. Today, he shares the story of his incredible perseverance in his years working at Epyllion and beyond. Mr. Jewel joined Epyllion as an Executive in 2012, running through the ranks and currently in the Deputy Managerial position at Industrial Engineering at Epyllion Knitwear Limited.
Epyllion Foundation: You ran for almost 18 kilometers from Savar to your office every morning and back after work. When did you start running?
Sadik Hasan Jewel: I used to run 1600-meter races and long runs in college. I started running and cycling to and from my Tejgaon office and my house in Savar everyday approximately 3 years ago. If I go through Gabtoli, I run almost 22 kilometers, and if I take the route through Beribaadh, it’s almost 18.6 kilometers. I still cycle and camp outdoors and in events whenever I can.
Epyllion: How long do you run or cycle each day?
Mr. Sadik: I remember just a year back, it took me 2 hours 49 minutes each day to run the 22 kilometers. Today, I can cover the same distance in 2 hours 16 minutes! I really love that I can still improve myself every day.
Epyllion: That is a lot of calories you burn every day. Do you follow a rigid or special diet?
Mr. Sadik: back in 2012, I weighed 87 kilograms. Now I reduced it to a healthy 66. When I had to reduce my weight, I had to cut down on fats and carbs. Now I have a diet of a lot of vegetables and healthy fats, including ghee and full fat milk, with a helping of chicken or fish every day. I also take Bullet coffee everyday to supplement my health, which is coffee mixed with butter and ghee.
Epyllion: You spend almost 5 hours on the road every day. Is there a particular or memorable incident you can share?
Mr. Sadik: I love running on busy roads - they are safer and I get to meet a lot of interesting faces along the way. My running often stops running buses - the bus drivers or conductors think I am running to catch the bus! I can’t help but always chuckle at the stunned faces I get when I explain that I am just running to my office.
I actually took the bus home one day. I had to get back outdoors in sneakers around 1:30 at night - I could not sleep, I felt I cheated out on running back home that day. When I was running around the neighborhood in the dead of the night, my neighbors kept stopping me and asking if I needed help. If you are not in trouble, you do not run around at 2am at night!
Epyllion: What inspired you to start and inspires you to keep running as you are?
Mr. Sadik: I started being physically active all the way back in 2000. But in my professional life, my biggest inspiration was the COO of Epyllion, Shajedur Rahman Mithu sir. He is very physically active and also runs and cycles every day.
Back in 2013, we had a mid-year meeting, where I remember we suffered two drawbacks in business. I remember Jonayed Ahmed Jewel sir, now the Head of Marketing & Merchandising of Epyllion, when he said that we may have suffered drawbacks in the middle of the year, but we still have the second half. This got me thinking - I was nearing the middle of my life, why shouldn’t I start improving myself throughout the second half of my life?
My inspirations also came from Syed Morshed Shibli Rabanni sir, from Training & Development, as well as my Department Head. My seniors keep inspiring me to never give up running. I have since broke my personal records - I broke my record of the Dhaka half-marathon in under 2 hours, and inshAllah will run in the upcoming 50km soon.