RAVI SINGARAM
There may have been some double takes at the National Stadium on Dec 3 when one of the runners at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon was seen in a purple sari.
Running any distance in a traditional nine-yard sari can be tough, but 35-year-old Swati Mukund went on to complete the half-marathon - 21.1km.
And she accomplished this despite suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord.
Accompanied by her father Subramanyam Mahadevan, 66, who also completed the half-marathon, Swati, an educator and mother of a 10-year-old girl, said: “It is okay to run in whatever clothes we find comfortable.
“Coming from India, I also wanted to showcase our culture, so that people can appreciate the unique values the sari represents.”
She wrote on Instagram: “All through the route, there were runners telling me they were beyond impressed to see me running in a sari, and I soaked in every bit of that feeling, because it does feel nice to carry a bit of India to every place you visit.”
Swati and her father flew in from Mumbai just for the event, which had more than 44,000 runners taking part across several categories this year.
Earlier, on getting news about the marathon on her Instagram feed, she had written to the organisers asking if she could participate in a sari.
Despite being regular long-distance runners, this was the first time Swati and her father were running in an international race. For Swati, who stayed in Singapore for three days, it was challenging to run in the heat and humidity, given her condition. “Thankfully, there were plenty of water points that helped me manage it,” she said.
Swati, an Instagram influencer who works with fashion, fitness and lifestyle brands, has raced in a sari before, though this was the first time she did so for a half-marathon.
She trains regularly at the gym and runs three times a week.
“Fortunately, I have doctors who take care of me really well, and my family supports me every step of my life,” she said.
“They feel incredibly proud of me for working hard on my goals and achieving them. They’re also really happy that my MS doesn’t bother me and that I carry on with life, taking each day as it comes.”
Her father, now retired, is training for a full marathon. The duo have set their sights on the Tata Mumbai marathon on Jan 21 next year.
