Avirupa Saha clicked a selfie with her medal to post on Facebook. It wasn't a moment of self-indulgence. It was a statement.

Women not only matched strides with men at the inaugural Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, partnered by The Telegraph, but also appeared to outnumber them on some stretches of the route.

Accredited marathons and distance races around the world see women compete with men in the open category, beginning the race together and fighting it out on equal terms. But few had expected to see so many women compete in Sunday's event, the first internationally accredited road race in eastern India.

In the starting line-up on a breezy Sunday morning were regular runners, fitness-conscious professionals, homemakers, teenaged daughters and doughty grandmothers.

'I have run marathons before but this was the first time I saw so many women participating, especially in the 40-plus age group,' said Sonalia Pal, a 19-year-old from St. Xavier's College who runs 15km daily. 'Some of the women were getting exhausted and sitting on the road. I pulled them up and told them they shouldn't give up before completing the race.'

For many women, participating in a road race is empowering in more ways than one.

'When I had told my colleagues a year ago about competing in my first marathon, they laughed at me. But once I completed it, they were in awe. This time, my inbox was filled with 'all the best' messages from them,' beamed young Avirupa.

Samita Sen, professor of women's studies at Jadavpur University, said the increasing participation of women in an event like a road race reflected the urge to assert their presence in the public space.

But Prasanta Ray, sociologist and emeritus professor at Presidency University, hopes this won't remain a metropolis trend. 'The practice of women playing an equal role in a social event has to spread to the fringes so that women from the lower strata feel encouraged to hit the public space in large numbers. That could be the real success story of such an initiative,' he said.

Presidency vice-chancellor Anuradha Lohia, 58, ran 6km while her daughter Madhura, 33, did the 25K. Lohia's husband was there, too. He walked with his wife.

'Women these days want to prove that they don't lag behind in any sphere of life. They can match the men and even do better than them. Sunday's marathon demonstrated that aspiration. Today, I really felt that times have changed. Girls are breaking the shackles,' Lohia said.

Daughter Madhura, an entrepreneur with a PhD in cell biology, completed the 25K. She hadn't run a half marathon earlier.

Madhura said she felt a new kind of belonging to the city when other female contestants she had never met before egged her on when she was struggling towards the end of the race. 'As I neared the finish line, it struck me that I had been able to pull it off. All that mattered was the fact that I had run the entire stretch, just like the male runners did,' Madhura said.

Sociologist Ray sees the participation of women in Sunday's race a sign of 'the changing times'.

'Many women had come to the event on their own. This reflected their urge not to remain an appendage anymore in a patriarchal society. Women who are established always tend to aspire to newer heights and newer challenges. They want to state that they aren't pushovers,' he said.

Many of the women who participated in the race squeeze time out of their work or home routine to jog or walk regularly.

'It means waking up at 4.30am and finishing my household tasks. But it's a fair price to pay to keep fit,' said 45-year-old Mridula Shah, whose son Navneet encouraged her to run the race. 'Today, I didn't have time to cook in the morning but I will return home and rustle up a quick Italian meal for lunch.'

Ditto for 44-year-old Nabonita Bose Mukherjee. 'I run from 5.30am daily before starting my routine at home. While there has been a gradual rise in the number of women running, Calcutta has yet to match Mumbai, where there are groups of women taking off on a run every morning. I still have to run alone.'

Rimi B. Chatterjee, professor of English at JU, said the participation of so many women in the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K was proof of the city embracing newer ideas. 'We saw this in Delhi and Mumbai. Calcutta is catching up.'

Niessha Bubna, a 52-year-old who had come down from Mumbai to run in her hometown, said she felt young after the experience.

Niessha, who started training for road races after she turned 40, was impressed by the turnout of women. 'Women of Calcutta are overcoming obstacles to keep fit and I wanted to come, run and inspire them further. If I can run 25km at 52, what's stopping others?'

Some women said they had been inspired to put on their running shoes by their husbands. 'I am so glad my husband Sumit pushed me to give this run a try. I am feeling so proud of myself now,' said Kriti Daga.

Shweta Jain and daughter Simran were there too, egged on by husband and father. 'We work out round the year but it's only this time that we mustered the courage to run a road race. There shall be no looking back,' Shweta promised.

'They want to state that this public space is mine. It is this urge that propelled them to be visible in large numbers on Sunday,' said JU professor Samita Sen. Colleague Rimi B. Chatterjee has a different perspective. According to her, women participating in an event in large numbers has little to do with equality of the sexes. 'Women don't lag behind anyway,' she said.

In no other field of sport, except for mixed doubles in certain racket sports, do men and women participate together on equal terms as in a marathon or a road race. The only thing relevant after flag-off is how quickly the human body can travel a certain distance. Every other demarcation is redundant.

At the famous Chicago Marathon earlier this year, 45 per cent of the 40,801 finishers were women.

 

MORE POWER TO THE CAUSE

 

'When I had told my colleagues a year ago about competing in my first marathon, they laughed at me. But once I completed it, they were in awe.'

Avirupa Saha, with friend Saikat Dasgupta

'I am so glad my husband Sumit pushed me to give this run a try. I am feeling so proud of myself now'

Kriti Daga, with husband Sumit 

 

'It (the race) means waking up at 4.30am and finishing my household tasks. But it’s a fair price to pay to keep fit'

Mridula Shah, with son Navneet 

 

'We work out round the year but it’s only this time that we mustered the courage to run a road race. There shall be no looking back'

Shweta Jain, with daughter Simran 

 

 

'Women of Calcutta are overcoming obstacles to keep fit and I wanted to come, run and inspire them further. If I can run 25km at 52, what’s stopping others?'

Niessha Bubna 

 

 

'I run from 5.30am daily before starting my routine at home. While there has been a gradual rise in the number of women running, Calcutta has yet to match Mumbai'

Nabonita Bose Mukherjee

 

'I have run marathons before but this was the first time I saw so many women participating'

Sonalia Pal

Pictures by Arnab Mondal

 

 

As a woman, do you find running a liberating experience? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com