Athlete Jayanti Thapliyal, 46, of Delhi is pulling up her socks for the 128th Boston Marathon next month. But her story begins from the top of a hill in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. When she was five, she sprinted back home from school faster than the boys in her village. “I would leave them all behind; they would sometimes be jealous of me,” says Thapliyal. Her running, however, was more of a familial duty—she had to run to get water from the common village handpump, around 3km down the hill, and run back to take care of her four-year-old brother who was alone at home.
While scaling the Pauri hills, Thapliyal stumbled on what was soon going to be a passion. All the running around, unknowingly laid her foundation as a professional athlete. “This is when I realised that running is my passion,” says Thapliyal, who, last month, finished second in a half marathon—running 21 km—by clocking in at 1:36:41 (one hour, 36 minutes, 41 seconds).
Her family moved to Delhi when she was seven. Her father, a clerk with the ministry of urban development, was allotted government accommodation in Netaji Nagar. Her older brother went to Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium for football coaching. Inspired by him, she also started her training, beginning at the Thyagraj Stadium in 1990, but there were challenges.
Obstacle course
“My parents did not encourage me to take up sports, mostly because my father could not afford the training,” she recalls. However, a proper diet and training were a must, so she found other ways to continue her training. “Whenever I would run a race and win, I received a small amount of money or a monthly scholarship. With that, I would manage my diet costs,” she says. Before an important race, she would also save up money to buy new shoes. “I started from short distance runs; running a marathon was never on my mind. But when I realised that I could make an earning out of it, I decided that I would aim higher and run marathons,” she says.
Societal stereotypes were other hurdles. “Sports in general is seen as a man’s field. So, I was constantly told to walk like a girl, or else nobody would want to marry me,” she says. Thapliyal’s coach also discouraged her from consuming supplements, telling her that they would cause hormonal changes and she would end up growing a moustache. “Because of this, I was scared of supplements, which I later realised were very important for an athlete,” she says. Her hard work paid off when she won a silver medal in the Delhi State 600-metre marathon in the under-14 category in 1991. “After that, there was no turning back,” she says. Her achievements also led to her securing a job at the Indian Defence Accounts Service in 1999 through the sports quota.
The post-motherhood body
In 2005, Thapliyal tied the knot with Pradeep Thapliyal, a former national-level football player, “Since he was also an athlete, he understood me and my needs, and he has always been very supportive. I no longer had to hear taunts,” she says. As a football player, he understood the demands of athletics. He never questioned Thapliyal when she travelled outside Delhi or returned home late from training. Sometimes, he even assisted her to recover from minor sports injuries.
“In football, injuries are common, so he knew several home remedies to treat them, which also benefited me when I was injured before an important race,” she explains.
Motherhood, however, was a big change for her career and her body. “When I became pregnant, I was scared. I knew my career would come to a halt,” she says. She took a three-year break. Returning to the tracks in 2009, she realised that she was now running out of breath and could not complete a 10-km run as smoothly as before, and began to lag in a race with other runners. With training, she made a successful comeback. In end-2009, she participated and won a gold medal in her first Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) winning five gold medals after that, the latest being in 2018.
She also started preparing for international marathons and championships, and participated in the Asia Masters Athletic Championship (Japan, 2014), Malaysian Athletics Championship (Malaysia, 2015), and World Masters Athletics Championship (France, 2016). Though she did not always win a medal, her participation in those championships boosted her confidence. She also learned the importance of the recovery period or ‘cooling down’ in winning races and now prioritises it before her new runs.
Prepping for Boston Marathon
As the world’s oldest marathon, the Boston Marathon carries immense prestige for athletes. Thapliyal, like many others, grew up hearing about it. In 2021, she achieved her dream of qualifying for the race. However, due to Covid-19, she was unable to acquire the travel documents to participate in the US; she continued her training nevertheless. She again qualified for the 128th edition of the Boston Marathon in 2023, which will now take place next month on April 15, and has been training rigorously. “My day starts at 4 am, and I hit the road by 5.30am,” she says. “I am preparing myself to run the Boston Marathon to prove to everyone who has taunted me, and to inspire young girls and mothers to follow their dreams.”