Bal Joshi : The Running Monk

Dirgha Raj Upadhyay in Texas

Everyone in the world is running some kind of race. Some chase recognition. Some chase money. Others run simply to stay ahead of others. But there are some who run for others.

They are not trying to overtake anyone, they do not do it for fame, they are not getting paid to do it. But they run to pay for the upliftment of those less privileged.

Bal Joshi, 41, is originally from Surkhet. His father was involved in the democratic movement during the days of absolute monarchy and he remembers frequent police searches of the house.

Joshi was born in Surkhet, where his family lived in the district headquarters before later moving to a village when he was still very young. It was there that he started his primary education, walking four hours roundtrip every day between home and school. He ran most of the way, and without realizing it he has been running ever since.

At the age of 15, Joshi moved to Nepalganj to continue his education. He initially stayed with his uncles, but eventually began living on his own. The transition to city life was difficult, and he experienced significant economic hardship while trying to pursue his studies. There were times when he struggled to meet basic needs, and at one point he sold his calculator just to get by.

When he was 17, after hearing that his father was seriously ill, Joshi travelled to Gujarat to bring him back home. His father died soon after. After his father’s death, Joshi took on responsibility for supporting his family. It was his mother who taught him that despite scarcity, life had to be lived with dignity.

Joshi started working at a newspaper at the age of 16 as a proofreader, and later became a journalist within the same organization. He went on to work with other media outlets as well. During the civil war between the Maoists and the Nepal government, when children were being orphaned as a result of violence by both sides, Joshi joined the Sahara Group. At 19, he began managing an orphanage that took in conflict-affected children.

In Bajhang, after the army killed a man on suspicion of being a Maoist, his wife jumped into the Seti River and ended her life. Their two children were taken into army custody. During the rescue process, Joshi met Sunaina Adhikari of the ICRC and back in Nepalganj they decided to get married.

The conflict was still raging in western Nepal in 2005, when Joshi went to the United States. He initially took a job at a Subway outlet soon after arriving, but worked there only briefly before moving on to a jewellery company, where he worked while supporting his family and continuing his studies. In 2008, he moved to Texas and settled in Dallas, where he began his banking career at Wells Fargo. He later joined Hancock Whitney Bank, where he is now a Senior Vice President.

It was his daughter who first encouraged him to start running, and later a colleague pushed him to take it more seriously. His first formal race was a half marathon in December 2021. Since then, Joshi has completed more than two dozen full marathons and over a dozen ultramarathons.

Last year, Joshi returned to Nepal to run the Everest Marathon, and raised $42,000 using the One Step Foundation platform, supporting work in health care, child welfare and cultural preservation in Nepal and around the world.

In June this year, Joshi and his family climbed Kilimanjaro, raising $19,000 for 80 HIV-affected orphaned children in Tanzania. During the Diwali festival he ran 220 km in Nevada’s Red Canyon and raised $25,000 for cataract surgeries through the Ruit Foundation in Nepal.

Joshi does not run competitions, and is not trying to break any records. His motto is: “My race, my pace.”

Turning his childhood scarcity into helping others, he says: “We all share sunlight, rain, air, and soil, nothing is truly just your own. I grew up without shoes, and I am fortunate to be able to distribute shoes to those who walk barefoot.”

We ask Bal Joshi what (and where) next ? His answer: the World Marathon Challenge that will go around the world to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days beginning in Antarctica at end-January. Joshi aims to run wearing the daura suruwal and Nepal’s flag to show where he comes from, and how far in life he has come.