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Shyamali's Mumbai Marathon bronze and a liberating kiss
The runner wasn't sure what life held for her after undergoing surgery in December 2020 to remove a brain tumour
It was bronze alright, but Shyamali Singh kissed the medal wrapped around her neck. The timing was way off the fastest by an Indian woman (2:47:11) and her own personal best (2:58:44), yet she still wore the brightest smile on her face.
The 3:04:35 finish at the Tata Mumbai Marathon meant a lot more than medals and timings for the woman from West Bengal. For, it was the first time she had won the right to be on the podium among the Indian women's field after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumour in December 2020.
“This is my first medal after the surgery, and the best one I have ever won,” said Shyamali, kissing the medal once again.
Shyamali, who grew up running alongside her father who would cycle frequently, ran her first competitive marathon in 2015 in Allahabad. Her personal best timing was clocked at the Mumbai Marathon in 2020, after which her husband and coach, Santosh Singh, observed a worrying trend.
"She would vomit after running 25km. In September, she had high fever and headache, which became unbearable after a point," said Santosh, a former long-distance runner.
Doctors in Kolkata detected a tumour, which could be fatal, Shyamali was told. Despite financial challenges and with little help coming from outside, Santosh decided to get her operated in a top hospital in Chennai. A 12-hour surgery later, Shyamali was out of danger.
Doctors asked her to be active, so she began jogging lightly in her room in a month. By November 2021, she gradually got to training outdoors. After running a few shorter distance races in 2022, she ran in Mumbai last year but could not finish.
People questioned whether she should continue running, and Shyamali, who is still under medication, too considered quitting.
"I told her to not listen to what people are talking, think about money, etc.," Santosh said. "Just think of this as a mountain that you have to scale."
On Sunday, the medal gave Shyamali that feeling. "I have been running since I was a kid, and it is everything for me," she said.
