"The Boston Marathon is the oldest marathon and since the qualifying timings are quite tough, (only) the best runners from all over the world are able to run this race," says 62-year-old Pervin Batliwala who was able to deliver her personal best to complete the 42 km event on April 17, 2017 in 4 hrs, 16 mins, 13 secs. With the event starting at 11.15 a.m., braving the heat in the first 26 km of the journey and the tough hilly terrain, Batliwala stood 79
th out of 344 in her category (women aged 60-64 years). Till date she has completed a total of 42 half and full marathons, and two ultramarathons (longer than the traditional marathon length of 42 km) with 32 podium finishes, she exults.
Batliwala who stood first in her category at the 2017 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, clocking 4 hrs, 23 mins, was two minutes ahead of the Boston qualification of 4 hrs, 25 mins for her age group. Training for the Boston Marathon started a week after the Mumbai Marathon in January. Coach Sandeep Bhandarkar who guides her with her ultra-marathon programs, set out a routine with Saturdays and Sundays being back to back runs, Wednesdays, speed runs plus hills, Tuesdays and Thursdays, strength training or swimming. Mondays and Fridays were rest days with deep tissue massage scheduled for every Monday. She appreciated that "on every run I had at least four/five friends giving me company. On Sunday long runs, they would plan and join me at different points so that I would never run alone…Savio D’Souza is my guru who introduced me to marathons. He first trained me for half and then full marathons," mentions Batliwala who started running at 50 years of age.
Prior to the event when "there was a big hype" among her colleagues about her doing "The Boston Marathon," Batliwala was more concerned with the logistics of the trip and deciding on suitable attire. It was when she took her first step at the starting point that she was "filled with emotions and tears rolled down," she confessed. Considering herself "lucky to fly Air India as my husband Kushru works for the airline," she further managed to cut costs as she was staying with family and friends in Boston.
Last year she participated in the Khardung La Challenge, the world’s highest and among the toughest ultra marathons that starts at 14,000 ft, goes up to Khardung La Pass (the higest motorable road in the world) at 18,380 feet and comes down to Leh at 11,000 feet. She completed the 72 km race in 13.15 hrs and was placed first in the women-veteran category and second in the open non-Ladakhi category. The year prior she completed the Comrades Marathon (up run) in South Africa in 11 hrs, 34 mins, covering a distance of 87.7 km. She stood 15th out of 66 women in her age category.
Having worked with Hindustan Unilever as executive assistant for 34 years until her retirement in 2015, Batliwala is now focused on improving her marathon timing. "The next big race will be the London Marathon next year. Entry to the London race is purely on lottery basis." She would also like to finish the other major marathons — in New York, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago.
