Everyone in the stadium started clapping and hooting as soon as a woman in a blue saree, tucked at the waist, removed her slippers and ran barefoot to finish a 1,600-metre run. Someone watching the trial run amid the Home Guard recruitment shot a video, focusing on the woman as she passed other candidates one by one. It went viral on social media.The woman is Kavita Kumari, a widow from Jharkhand for whom a Home Guard job could spell a change in fortunes.Kumari starts her day with an early-morning practice run on uneven ground near her village, Soso, in Ramgarh district.On October 4, she travelled to Sidhu Kanhu Stadium for a free trial conducted by an academy run by athletes, where candidates could get a sense of the ground and assess their fitness in conditions closer to those they would face in the recruitment test. The same stadium is scheduled to host the physical test for the Home Guard recruitment from October 24 to November 5.Barefoot, in a saree, Jharkhand widow runs 1,600m in 8 minutes. The finish line: A Home Guard job https://t.co/0LJajBB9o5— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) October 7, 2026Kumari, clad in a saree and chappals, was among those who showed up.“I was very nervous as soon as I reached the stadium. People were looking at me in a saree, and I was looking at them in tracksuits with bags, bottles and shoes on their feet. This just made me uncomfortable, but I took part in the run,” she said.To pass the running test in the female category, a candidate has to run 1,600 metres in 10 minutes. Kumari said she completed it within eight minutes, earning an ‘Excellent’ grade with full marks.“Till people applauded me, I had no idea about what I had done. I just removed my chappal and started running barefoot. While I was running, I had no thoughts other than the Home Guard job. Someone took my video and posted it on social media… I hope I will run with the same energy and confidence on the physical exam day,” she said.Story continues below this adAnkit Singh (25), who runs Ankit Runner Academy in Ramgarh and organised the October 4 trial, said the purpose was not merely to conduct a practice run but to familiarise candidates with the stadium. The ground, he said, has a slope on one side, with portions that are sandy, gravelly and uneven.“Candidates need to know how the ground behaves before the actual physical test. That is why many of them come from 15 to 20 kilometres away to practise here. That day, around 1,900 candidates took part, including nearly 1,100 women. Many of the women came from rural areas, and some wore sarees. There were around 50 to 60 women in sarees that day,” he said.He said that for women from rural areas, wearing a tracksuit and running shoes and going out to practise is not always easy. The idea was to give candidates an experience of the actual ground so that they would know what to expect on the recruitment day, he said.The notification for Jharkhand Home Guard recruitment was issued in April this year, with 284 vacancies in Ramgarh district against more than 16,000 applications. The first phase of the recruitment includes a physical test comprising a 1,600-metre run, long jump, high jump and shot put, following which the written examination will be conducted.Story continues below this adThe recruitment also reserves 50 per cent of the overall posts for women, with 5 per cent reserved for widows.Kumari said she got married in 2009 while she was a minor. Now around 30, she lost her husband, Deepak Kumar Mahato, three years ago. Deepak was a migrant worker in Gujarat after working in Mumbai, she said.“During Covid, he was unwell, and he returned home. He continuously fell sick and died in 2023. I had to look after my in-laws, maintain the home and children and run the home financially,” she said.Six months after Deepak’s death, the family also lost his younger brother. “My sister-in-law left home after her husband’s death,” she said.Story continues below this adKumari told The Indian Express that the family has a debt of around Rs 6 lakh after spending a substantial amount on treatment.She said she worked as a security guard at private offices in Ramgarh town but left the job as her shifts ended late and she could not find transport back to her village.Now she works as a labourer, mostly at a brick kiln, to repay the debt and support her two children, who study at a private school in Ramgarh.While preparing for the physical test, Kumari said she relied on YouTube to learn and practise. “I ask my children to open YouTube and play the videos for me, as I hardly know how to use it. I watch the videos and prepare for the exam. I do not have a single penny to spend on dresses, shoes or tuition fees, so I have to prepare on my own,” she said.Story continues below this adAfter the video reached a wider audience, several people and politicians reached out to support her. Dumri MLA Jairam Kumar Mahato spoke to Kumari over the phone and sent her a tracksuit and running shoes.Ajay Karmali (38), a Home Guard posted in Ramgarh, is Kumari’s coach and runs the HMT Physical Academy in Dulmi, about 5 km from her village. He started the academy around four or five months ago, offering free physical training to villagers. Kumari found him through his social media posts and called him to ask if she could join.Karmali said he encouraged her to run at the stadium before the recruitment test so that she could become familiar with the ground and gain confidence. “Though she did not have a running uniform, she hopes that she will soon get the Home Guard uniform,” he said.