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On her first visit of any sort to the city of Chennai Sayuri Dalvi just finished second in the women’s category of the full marathon at the 2014 Wipro Chennai Marathon this past Sunday, finishing in a time of three hours, 48 minutes and 19 seconds (03:48:19).
“I was targeting a 03:55 in my mind, but my friends here kept putting pressure on me to do better and I ended up shaving seven minutes off of it, so I’m very happy and huge thanks to them.”, says Sayuri, clearly delighted with the run.
Having dealt with the newness of the course and the renowned Chennai humidity rather well, it’s been a very fruitful weekend for this single mother from Mumbai who also took part in the Health and Fitness Expo at the Chennai Trade Centre the day before the marathon as a panellist in one of the sessions.
It was in 2007, a few years after the birth of her son Vihan that Sayuri began running in an effort to get into shape and get healthy. Seven years on, in 2014, she is a well-known name in the running community, particularly popular in her hometown of Mumbai, while also being well-known in running circles across the country.
“I started running in 2007, a few years after Vihan was born”, says Sayuri.
It turned out that she was pretty good at it and her friends and family goaded her on to take up running full time on a regular basis and thus began her journey.
After initially running 10-12 kms on average, she ran her first major race at the 2007 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in the half-marathon category.
It’s the run that’s closest to her heart as she admits, “Half-marathon is my most preferred and loved event. It started with that in 2007.”
Sayuri ran that race in a time of one hour and 56 minutes. For the record, two hours is the benchmark time for a half-marathon and four hours for a full marathon. Anyone who completes their first run matching those times is considered to be well on their way. Sayuri didn’t just match it, she broke it.
Since then she’s been running the half-marathon at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon every year while also going around the country to take part in other events such as the Delhi Half Marathon. After running two races in 2009 and 2010, she ran three in 2011 and 2012 and eight in 2013 and this year she bumped it up some more and has done 20 races.
Amongst her notable achievements, she came second at the 2013 Pune Running Beyond Yourself Half-Marathon and was ranked third in the Best Female Athlete category at last year’s Mumbai Road Runners awards.
Not just has she done more races than ever before this year, she’s also been more successful. She finished first at the Puma Urban Stampede in Pune and second at the same event in Mumbai. She finished first at the Run India Run and Wipro 10K events. She finished second at the Pune half-marathon and third at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.
She’s moved on to doing full marathons too, the first of which came once again in dear old Mumbai in 2013. Her run in Chennai on Sunday was her third official full marathon.
”I’m trying my hand at full marathons since running is a passion now for me and being comfortable with half-marathons to such an extent that I can just wake up from bed and go do a half-marathon. It’s about challenging yourself.”
The Delhi half-marathon is Sayuri’s favourite event, for she loves the cold Delhi weather and the fact that the course is fully flat.
“It was 9 degrees this year when we ran! It was just brilliant and no climbs, making it perfect”, says a beaming Sayuri.
When quizzed on which course she finds the toughest, she replies, “Hyderabad, because it has so many climbs. As such the roads are up and down and on top of that there are stretches where we have to go over flyovers.”
Sayuri does like to listen to music while running. Her collection though is assembled by a friend of hers who puts together a mix of some Bollywood classics, a little contemporary and a bit of Western music. For Sayuri, who says that she isn’t a total music junkie, it provides her an opportunity to listen to songs at a stretch which she otherwise doesn’t get time to while also serving as a tonic to keep her mind occupied as she runs.
Her friends and family have been a source of great support to her, especially her father who she says is her crew during races, particularly on home turf in Mumbai.
”He is like a one man crew. He’s always there carrying a bag with all my essentials in it and he’s there at every check point to help out and motivate. He’s been very supportive right through”, says the Mumbaikar.
This doting mother used to run a fitness studio in the Dadar area of Mumbai while also teaching at a college over weekends on health and fitness. Since 2012 though, she’s decided to take a sabbatical to spend some quality time with her son at home, something which she says is now her full-time job.
That said, she’s not been able to separate herself from running however. And if the second place finish at the Chennai Marathon is anything to go by, then there’s lots more miles left in Sayuri before she puts those running shoes away.
When asked about this in particular, she rather matter of factly states, “That was a profession and I could give it up, but this is a passion, so I can’t.”
(Sayuri will be running at the upcoming Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in her hometown and is looking at running more full marathons in 2015)
