The marathon is probably the most arduous event in the field of athletics. And the life of a marathon runner is in itself a marathon. Many are the runners who hail from abject poverty and endure the suffering of grueling marathons.

Mallawa Arachchige Ruwina Deepani is one such athlete. Ruwina, who is fighting numerous hardships to persevere as a marathon runner will be Sri Lanka’s representative in the team event in the women’s category at the Singapore Marathon, which will be held in Singapore this Sunday.

Ruwina, who studied at Induruwa Maha Vidyalaya had a penchant for the 1500 meters event. Although she couldn’t produce outstanding performances at National level, she managed to win bronze medals in her pet events at the All Island National Schools Sports Festival in 1999 and in 2000.

The third in a family of five children, Ruwina faced a severe setback to her education and athletics when her father met with an untimely death before she sat for her GCE Ordinary Level examination. "My father died of cancer and I gave up my education after the O/Ls. I was not studious and my father’s death had its toll on my athletics," said Ruwina when ‘The Island’ met her at her residence at Kaikawala, off Induruwa.

When ‘The Island’ went to Kaikawala, Ruwina was training with her friend Dinuka Sandakanthi, along a mountainous road near her house. "My total focus for the last several months has been on the Singapore Marathon. I firmly believe that I can run below three hours in the Singapore Marathon," said a determined Ruwina.

Ruwina’s house is situated some four kilometers off Galle Road at Kaikawala. She had to walk the whole distance back and forth for her practices to Induruwa, until recently. After being helped by her coach Prasanna Perera, the Galle District coach, now she has a bicycle to do the distance.

"When my father died, I found it hard to pursue athletics. It was Prasanna Sir who helped me. He stationed me at his mother’s place and helped me with my training. In fact, it was he who persuaded me to take up the marathon and he found a degree of sponsorship from Saman Villas Hotel (a tourist hotel at Induruwa) for me," Ruwina said.

After having excelled at Provincial marathons, Ruwina’s first National level success came at the National Sports Festival marathon in 2007, where she finished fourth. Soon after impressing at National level, she had her first international exposure in Bangkok. Ruwina ran a personal best in the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon, clocking three hours and six minutes under trying conditions early this year. Later, she bettered her personal best by one minute at the National Sports Festival Marathon, this year. This time, her feat of three hours and five minutes was only second to the eventual winner who beat her in the last 190 meters.

"I have bettered my personal best in my last three marathons and my coach has been the source of help for me to succeed. Now that I am attached to Sri Lanka Air Force, I have found myself a safe haven to succeed in the marathon.

Although Ruwina ran in the Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon early this year, she took part as an individual participant and when she runs in the Singapore Marathon it will be her first, as a team member. With Chandrawathi Marasinghe finishing third in the South Asian region in the first leg in Nairobi, Ruwina, who runs in the second leg in Singapore has to make amends for a huge time lapse of 30 minutes for the Sri Lanka women’s team to keep alive their chances of retaining the South Asian Championship they won last year. "Making amends for a 30 minutes lapse is far beyond me. But I know that I can run below three hours and probably I could take a lead over the Thai and Indonesian runners. If I could do that, then the Sri Lankan team will be in a good position to take the lead in the rest of the two marathons," Ruwina hoped.