An Indian woman from Odisha based in Manchester has made headlines for several reasons after competing in a marathon on Sunday. Madhusmita Jena-Das was seen participating in a 42.5-km marathon while wearing a stunning Sambalpuri handloom saree. Madhusmita completed the marathon in an impressive four hours and fifty minutes. Madhusmita Jena is a 43 years old mother of two boys – both now in secondary school. She’s also a Special Education Needs Teacher in Manchester. Jena has run 38 official full marathons and 5 ultra-marathons, that includes two 100km runs in Cairo across the pyramids and a 256km run through the Thar desert in India spread across desert terrain, salt flats, inhabited localities and sandy hills. Running long distances has always been very therapeutic for her.
Here’s her exclusive chat with Asian Voice.
What made you choose a saree to run the marathon?
Normally I am always challenging myself to achieve a Boston Qualifying time or a Good for Age. Hence, I am constantly monitoring my time to achieve my goal. This time around I wanted to take up a new challenge. I have always loved wearing sarees so running in one has crossed my mind. It was also a good way to encourage people from all backgrounds to run and to emphasise that there are no boundaries – whether that be a headscarf, a saree or even a full burqa. The Manchester Marathon attracts large participation and I believed that it would provide the right platform to promote diversity and encouragement to people from all walks of life. I also did hope to showcase the beauty and elegance of a saree to the people of Manchester.
Do you think the garment one wears can change the performance of an athlete in a race?
To a certain extent, yes. A 100m sprinter or an elite marathon runner would benefit from wearing something light and streamlined. However, the majority of marathon runners, run an individual race and we all run the race our own way. I don’t know if I could have run Manchester faster if I was trained better and wasn’t wearing a saree. I guess I’ll have to train better and try running in a saree again to see if I can improve on my time!
Will you please share some details about the saree you wore?
The saree I wore was my mother’s, from her 20s. I loved it and ‘borrowed’ if from her years ago. It is from the state of Odisha and is called a Khandua Patta saree or Maniabandhi. Khandua translates in Odia to the cloth worn on the lower half of the body. The saree is often adorned with religious texts, so it is considered auspicious. They are world famous for their unique weaving style and motifs and usually come in bright red and orange colours. These sarees are weaved or produced in the village of Manibandha of Cuttack District.
Why do you think it's important to showcase Indian heritage on a global scale?
India and its heritage is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. Whatever people know is a representation of people far away from intrinsic Indian culture. In fact, we as Indians also to an extent have a superficial knowledge of our heritage for various reasons.
India is a very diverse and culturally rich country and has never done justice in portraying itself to the rest of the world. History has been ignored and/or misrepresented for far too long.
Each state has its own traditions and culture. The ruling dispensation of India over the last few centuries has never represented the masses and its major cultural heritage. It’s now time to explore India more.
What should women athletes practice in terms of diet and fitness regimes in South Asian households to perform better?
Ensure calories aren’t restricted and enough protein is consumed: 1.8-2.2g of protein per kg of body weight to maintain and/or grow muscle. This can be in the form of chicken, paneer, tofu or a protein shake. I also take magnesium, vitamin B12 and calcium supplements, in addition to my regular diet of rice, daal, chole and paneer.
Strength training is a must, especially for women over the age of 40. At around age 30 we start losing as much as 3 – 5 % of lean muscle mass per decade. Just 30 minutes twice a week, can improve functional performance, as well as bone density and strength.
