World’s Biggest Half Marathon in a sari

Monday 29th August 2022 10:23 EDT
 

Krishan Solanki, from Stanmore in north-west London, will be tackling the Great North Run along with 60,000 other runners on Sunday 11 September – with one twist.

Instead of wearing the usual sportswear, Krishan will be sporting his grandmother’s sari – a traditional Indian form of ladies' dress – in the first Guinness World Record attempt for fastest men’s half marathon completed wearing the traditional women’s dress.

Although Krishan is a keen sportsman himself, the sari adds an extra challenge due to the design of the large single cloth which is pleated and wrapped around the waist and then around the torso over the shoulder, affecting his stride length.

“The Great North Run is the world’s biggest half marathon with 60,000 running on the day. It is a bucket list event, which I haven’t completed yet. I have done tougher challenges than this so I had to think out of the box to make it harder and something people would want to donate towards,” said Krishan.

“I wanted to wear something different for the fancy dress side of the challenge and something that was a nod towards my Indian heritage. As this is a ladies' dress, it is something that stands out and makes people take notice and want to support me. I hope it will also help raise awareness for muscle wasting conditions and make a difference.”

Krishan is dedicated to fundraising for muscle-wasting conditions to support his 30-year-old sister, Anjali, who has congenital muscular dystrophy, and others like her. The condition has significantly impacted Anjali’s life. Congenital muscular dystrophy is present from birth, meaning Anjali has never been able to walk.

Krishan will donate the money to Muscular Dystrophy UK where he works as the Head of Events and Regional Development. The charity is dedicated to researching treatments and cures for all muscle-wasting conditions and providing support to the 110,000 people in the UK with associated conditions.

“I hope that by [completing the Guinness World Record attempt] people will look up muscular dystrophy and see what the charity does and how they can help. The condition and charity are not as well-known as they should be, so any extra awareness I can raise will be fantastic,” said Krishan.

In order to qualify for the Guinness World Record, he must complete the half marathon – 13.1 miles – in the competitive time of under two hours, while wearing the sari the entire time. His cousin, Rajiv Solanki, is running with him to record photo evidence. Wearing his grandmother’s orange sari – Muscular Dystrophy UK’s charity colour – adds an extra challenge for Krishan during the race, who has previously completed The Ironman Triathlon – consisting of 3.9km swim, 180.3km bicycle ride and 42.2km run – and The Big 60, a 60km bike ride followed by 60 laps of a 400m running track, to fundraise for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

“The Great North Run may not be as difficult in terms of distance, but I have a time constraint to get a world record and also a very unfamiliar form of dress around me which will make it a tough challenge for sure,” Krishan said.

“Men wearing saris is not common and when I have been wearing it out on practice runs people do notice, point and smile. I hope by doing this I also bring a bit of joy and happiness to people’s day, even if it’s at my own embarrassment!”

Kiera Santry, Challenge Events Manager for Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: “We’re so grateful to our colleague and friend, Krishan, for taking on this Guinness World Record Attempt as part of his Great North Run challenge. It’s definitely going to add another layer of difficulty on top of an already challenging race, but we’re confident Krishan will rise to the challenge as he has with his other amazing fundraisers – and we look forward to cheering him on every step of the way! We wish Krishan all the best in his world record attempt, and thank him for the awareness and funds this will raise for the 110,000 people living with muscle-wasting conditions in the UK.”

To support Krishan and his world record attempt for Muscular Dystrophy UK, head to his fundraising page.


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