Taking part in the Asics Meta 10km race in Bangkok yesterday, Vimal smashed his personal best with a record time of 31:55 in the invitational men’s category. His previous personal best was 32:12, set in Malaysia.
Last year, he finished fifth in the Asics race held in Kuala Lumpur.
Sonny Wagdos of the Philippines won the gold with a time of 31:29 while Richard Salano, also of the Philippines, took the second spot with a time of 31:32.
Another Malaysian, Haziq Hamzah, came in ninth with a time of 33:34.
In the women’s invitational category, Malaysia’s Amelia Musa (39:23) and Michelle Chua (39:59) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Vimal told FMT he was somewhat surprised by his third place although he had trained extra hard.
“I was just concentrating on running and was not aware of my position. I was surprised when they announced that I was third and placed the medal around my neck.
“I started slowly and it was only at the seventh kilometre that I began to increase my speed,” he said.
“These were top runners in the region and the going was tough.”
He thanked his coach, N Gunasageran, for planning his training and motivating him.
Vimal, 30, works as a fruit harvester at an oil palm estate near Taiping and only trains for an hour or so after 5pm under Gunasageran at the Taiping Esplanade.
Vimal, who is the best in the country over 5,000m and 21km, told FMT last month his immediate goal was to represent Malaysia in the next SEA Games.
His best time in the 5,000m, set in the Malaysia Open championships in June, is 15:32. The SEA Games qualifying time is 14:46.
Gunasegeran said Vimal called him immediately after making the podium at the Bangkok race to tell him of his improved time.
“Both of us had expected him to run below 32 minutes. We tailored his training to ensure there was a combination of speed and distance and it paid off,” he said.
He said Asics sent 31 male and female Malaysian athletes for the competition at the Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok.
In the open category, the top three best male runners were Kebede Aberra Dinke (31:56) followed by Dillon Lee and Ebisa Takele.
In the women’s open category, Bontu Demisse Ware crossed the finish line first with a time of 35:28, followed by Seble Dugo Beriso and Rachel Longstaff.