On Sunday, a group of about hundred women gathered in Indiranagar’s 100-Feet Road, Bengaluru.

Dressed in sarees, you’d never think that these women were actually there to run a marathon.

But that’s exactly what was happening.

Saree Run, a collaboration between Taneira, a brand of Titan, and Pinkathon, was organised to raise awareness about women’s health and breast cancer.

According to the organisers, about 120 women turned up on Sunday morning to participate in the run.

They warmed up with a Zumba session, and the Taniera staff helped them drape their sarees in dhoti-style variations so the garment would stay out of their way as they ran.

Two women even came with their children – they strapped the children to their chests with baby wearers and off they went.

While some women completed the three-kilometre-long run in 15 minutes, the average time the women took was half an hour.

Also present at the event were notable names like Anju Kadam, Pragya Prasun and Nagarathna Bhat. While Anju is one of the co-founders of the 100 Saree Pact, an popular initiative to wear the saree for 100 days in a year, Pragya, an acid attack survivor, runs a rehabilitation centre for victims of acid attacks. Nagarathna is a visually impaired woman, who runs marathon, and has previously run the Pinkathon as well.

Pragya Prasun

From right: Anju Kadam, Nagarathna Bhat and Pragya Prasun

Once they finished the runs, the women shared inspiring stories, and why the cause of breast cancer and the larger issue of women’s health were important to them.

Apart from raising awareness about breast cancer and women’s health, Anju Kadam said that there was another motive behind the saree run. “We wanted to promote the idea that you can run in whatever you are comfortable in. It could be shorts, but it could also be a saree,” she said.

This is not the first time women have run in saree. In Hyderabad, Jayanthi, an IT manager, has also been running marathons in saree to support handloom and handcrafted fashion.