Durban – “I remember the people at the race, a lot of the Indian people from New York also, they were so amazed that I ran the race in a sari. After the race, the runners actually lifted me up and threw me in the air like a pocket of potatoes.
This is how Sitha Singh, 69, of Chatsworth, responded when asked how the Americans reacted to her running the New York marathon in a white sari.
For most, chasing a dream seems too far-fetched an idea to pursue.
It requires too much effort, too much diligence, too much focus.
It requires a person to break away from society, and to an extent get lost in their own world.
These factors are compounded even further when you are a woman of colour in South Africa.
But not even this could stop Singh from crossing the finish line of the New York Marathon.
IOL spoke to her on Sunday at the Made in Chatsworth market at the Depot Road School grounds, hosted by author and businessman Kiru Naidoo and his associates.
The 69-year-old mother of two said her passion for competitive racing was ignited during a fun-run her son’s school about 30 years ago.
The 5km fun run was held at the Pelican Street grounds in Kharwastan.
“I had slippers then, and I walked that 5km with slippers,” Singh said.
“There was someone at the race, they saw me and sponsored me with running shoes. I got those shoes and that was my beginning,” she said.
After receiving the running shoes, Singh said she started training at Chatsworth Stadium.
But life, at the time, was getting more complicated as the relationship with her now ex-husband grew sour as the days went by.
The family politics eventually took its toll on the relationship and Singh decided to part ways with her husband after the New York Marathon, taking her two boys with her and leaving behind the security he offered.
In many ways, running offered her a sense of belonging, a medium through which she could vent the frustrations and disappointments of reality.
She also became a member of the Chatsworth Athletics Club, despite being diabetic.
After running 10km and 50km races, Singh came across a flyer at Kings Park Stadium which offered people the chance to run the New York City Marathon at a price which would seem impossible to an unemployed mother of two.
But Singh had gone too far down the rabbit hole to turn back, she knew she could only go forward and so she did… All the way to Rajbansi’s house.
Amichand Rajbansi (the Raj) was a politician from Chatsworth who was in many ways, the voice of the Indian community on a national-level through his party, the Minority Front (MF).
“I think it was about 15 years ago, I came across bill for the New York Marathon. It said if I paid R13 000, I would be able to go,” she said.
“I went to Rajbansi’s house and without hesitation he said, ‘There, you must take these shoes and walk in them.’ He also gave me R6 000. It was that and the pair of ASICS running shoes that he gave me.”
The ANC also held a meeting for her in Chatsworth to sponsor her with R6 000 towards the race.
A month before the New York Marathon, Singh competed in a 10km “Woman in Action” race.
After finishing the race, someone had started a rumour that she had a heart attack and died in the stadium.
“I don’t know who said that, up until now I don’t know.”
“I was still in the stadium when it happened. After that, a whole group of people went to my house at 706 to find out when the funeral was. My son said that so many cars were parked outside.
“At that time, Daily News was holding my marathon story. So one reporter called my phone thinking somebody would answer. She asked: ‘Mrs Singh, where are you?’ I said I am driving. The reporter thought that I was dead.
“She said I got a message that you did the race and passed away. I said but I am talking to you. How can I be dead?
“After that, my friend took me to the stadium where they were having a minute’s minutes of silence for me,” she said, laughing. “As soon as I went, I heard them screaming that the ‘Sari Auntie’ is here. They ran and came to me, crying.
What she didn’t know was that a group of people had already raised money for her “funeral”.
She took this, added it to the cash she received from Rajbansi and the ANC as well as her savings and managed to buy her way into the race.
Finally, Singh made it to the Big Apple, after surviving a death rumour, a toxic marriage and life as a single mother in the new South Africa.
Armed with a white sari and a pair of ASICS from Rajbansi, the Americans could not believe their eyes, Singh said.
“They were so excited, especially the Indian people from that side. Some of them were shouting ‘Hare Krishna’, and some of them ‘Jai Shree Ram’. They all had their hands out and wanted me to touch them while I was running.
“I was the only one in a sari,” she said.
“I felt so good, so happy inside me. I thank God for that experience,” Singh added.
“Nothing is impossible,” she added.
IOL