Braving the foggy cold at 7 in the morning, over 1,200 women turned up at the LD College of Engineering campus to take part in the Taneira Sari Run in Ahmedabad on Sunday. At 3 km, the run was not too long, but the energy was high as the ladies made their way briskly along Vikram Sarabhai Marg, Panjrapole Cross Roads and University Road. Back at the starting point, there was another burst of activity as everyone exercised to the beat of some groovy music.
Participants included 73-year-old homemaker Rita Kadia, who is a marathon regular. There was banker-turned-homemaker Tina Gupta, who fashionably wore a black sari with a belt and t-shirt. There were 25 women in “wine coloured” saris from a Yoga Club. And not all the participants were from Ahmedabad. There were some who happened to be in the city on holiday or for a wedding. There were seven doctors from Deep Maternity Hospital, Godhra, who drove down specially for this event. “We heard of this run on social media and decided to join in,” they said.
Taneira, which is the sari brand from Titan, has been organising this run across major cities (Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad) since it was launched in 2017, but this is the first time it is being done in Ahmedabad. “This run celebrates the sari,” says Ambuj Narayan, CEO of Taneira, who flagged off the run. “It encourages women to embrace their heritage with pride, while championing an active, dynamic lifestyle.”
Taneira currently has one store each in Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda and Rajkot. Those who participated in the run were required to collect their badges from the Taneira shop, which provided the company an opportunity to market its products.
Though it may be a first for Taneira, sari runs are not new to Ahmedabad. Just last month, there was the Jito Sari Marathon on the Sabarmati Riverfront, which was organised with similar objectives. “The only difference is that Jito was a paid run where the proceeds went to charity, whereas the Taneira run was free,” says Sarika Sharma, promoter of sports event management company Cyruns, which organised both runs.
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