Brain tumour nearly ended her career in 2020, today Shyamali is a Mumbai Marathon podium finisher

Shyamali Singh’s 03:04:35 at the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday doesn’t seem to be impressive. Though she won bronze among Indian women, her timing is miles away from the course record set by an Indian woman and even further away from the Olympic qualification time of 2:26:50.

It wasn’t a course record that 33-year-old Shyamali was aiming for though. She wasn’t even trying to improve her timing, having run 2:58:44 in 2019.

And yet, in this race, she says, this result was her best ever.

The reason is that it marks her comeback to competitive running at the Mumbai Marathon after she had to undergo a 12-hour surgery to remove a brain tumour in December 2020.

Shyamali’s journey is a tale of determination, grit, and refusal to give up. In 2017 she had an operation to remove a non-malignant tumor in her chest. She fought off that, and returned to racing, but then hit a roadblock again in 2020. This time she didn’t know if she would survive.

In 2017 she had an operation to remove a non-malignant tumor in her chest. She fought off that, and returned to racing, but then hit a roadblock again in 2020. This time she didn’t know if she would survive.

“I ran the 2020 Mumbai Marathon, and then ran a race somewhere in October when I started getting headaches. I thought it was because of the heat so I carried on with my training. The headaches kept recurring and I was struggling to train but I was just about managing to pull through,” she told The Indian Express.

She had a similar feeling before she found out about the tumour in her chest and feared it has reoccured. Unfortunately this time, it was even worse.

“It was only when she developed a fever and it just wouldn’t go that we knew it was something serious,” says her husband and coach Santosh. “When we took her to the hospital, and the doctor saw that she was a national runner, he refused to operate fearing that it could be fatal.”

And Santosh wasn’t going to risk getting her operated at a local hospital with “inexperienced doctors”. He wanted the best but the only problem was that it was a huge ask financially.

“During her operation, I mailed everyone… from the MLA to the chief minister as well as the prime minister, but I did not get a response from anywhere,” Santosh said.

“We had to sell our house, use up our entire savings. We got the surgery done at one of the bigger hospitals and the total cost was Rs 15 lakhs. A few of our friends supported us and we managed to pay the bill,” Santosh said.

During her recovery period, there was only one thing on her mind — when does she get back to running?

“From the time I’m small, I have been running or doing some activity. Where I grew up in Kolkata, my dad used to cycle a lot and I used to run behind him but I never considered running as a sport,” Shyamali said.

Shyamali Singh with her husband

It was only in 2011, after marrying Santosh, a former state runner himself, that she was introduced to the concept of running a marathon and training for it. She ran her first 42km race in 2013 and hasn’t looked back.

“When she was operated on for the tumour in her chest, she managed to come back soon but this time we knew it was going to be entirely different. We started small. Weeks after the surgery we encouraged her to walk. It was her determination that helped tremendously,” Santosh said.

Shyamali’s recovery process was arduous and it was only the goal of getting back on the road that motivated her. Marathon running though, was far off.

“In November 2021, 11 months after the surgery, I was able to run a bit on the road for the first time. I ran short distances in 2022 and it was only last year that I managed to complete a marathon which was held in Assam. I did try to run the Mumbai Marathon last year too but couldn’t go beyond the 20km mark. So completing this race and getting on the podium is a real victory for me,” she said.

Nirmaben Thakor Bharatjee was the fastest Indian woman with a timing of 2:47:11, which was also a personal best for her.

Nirmaben, who said she had to arrange funds for her training, says she now aims to get her numbers in the range of the Olympic qualification mark of 2:26:50.

Reshma Kevate (3:03:34) finished second among the Indian women.

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