"For a Pakistani competing in Ironman events, representing the national flag alone can be both an honour and a challenge,” says 40-year-old Sana Arif, one of Pakistan’s pioneering female triathletes and ‘half-Ironman’ finishers.

“It’s a source of immense pride to represent your country on a global stage, proving that endurance sports have a place in Pakistan’s athletic culture,” she adds, “But it can also feel isolating without a strong national presence or support system, especially when surrounded by athletes from countries with well-established triathlon communities. However, being one of the few can also be a powerful motivator.”

Born in Kuwait, Sana spent her childhood in Lahore before moving back to Kuwait in 2007. She’d always been into sports, but it was in Kuwait that she was exposed to the local recreational, semi-professional and moving-on-to professional sporting circles. From hearing about the Ironman, to bumping into athletes that had actually completed one, Sana was inspired.

An Ironman 70.3 or the half-Ironman as it’s also known, is an incredibly challenging endurance race organised by the World Triathlon Corporation, and takes place in different countries around the world. It starts with a 1.9km swim in the open sea, followed by a 90km bicycle ride and is finished with a 21.1km (half marathon) run — all in one go. This is an event that athletes take years to train for. Training for three different sports at the same time is so time consuming that, until race day, the training can pretty much take over your entire life.

Sana Arif is one of the country’s pioneering female triathletes and has competed in and finished three Half Ironman events so far. What motivated her to get into such a gruelling sport in her late 30s?

You’d think Sana would’ve been training for years to compete in one of the hardest endurance races in the world.

“I learned how to swim in 2021!” she laughs. That’s only two years before her first Ironman 70.3 event in Turkey in 2023. “While I was doing my basic swim sessions, an Indian friend of mine asked me which distance I was going to go for in the upcoming local triathlon race,” she adds.

“It was how she asked me that motivated me — not if I was going for it, but which distance I was going for.” That confidence, along with a strong community support and access to world-class trainers gave Sana the rock-solid self-belief she needed to dive into triathlon training.

Sana was determined to prove that you can do anything, as long as you set your mind to it. And starting training from scratch in your late 30s? No problem.

“More than endurance, I think it is discipline that will make you a triathlete,” says Sana.

“Triathlon training is very time consuming as you have to train in four disciplines. You train twice a day while balancing your family and work commitments. You need to be mentally strong and focused. And sacrifice your social life and say goodbye to late night plans. I have cried numerous times while training, but you gotta do what you gotta do!”

So far, Sana has competed in and finished three Ironman 70.3 races — twice in Antalya, Turkey (October 2023 and November 2024) and her last one in Bahrain in November 2024. To compete in two back-to-back Ironman 70.3 races in one month is no mean feat. There’s hardly any time for rest and recovery. In fact, there is no time for rest and recovery. It’s an incredible achievement, especially for an athlete that started out competing only a year prior!

She’s come far in her sporting journey, but still considers 2023, the year she did her debut, as the toughest. “I spent most of the year training,” she says, “And if not training, thinking about training. I dreamt of that finish line every day of 2023 and to be there on the race day itself was very fulfilling. Your first race will always be your favourite and unforgettable one. It was a tough day, of course.”

All of her race photos show her beaming at the finish line. “I am dying inside!” she laughs. “But one has to pose for the cameras!” she jokes.

Being based in Kuwait, does she think she has an advantage over athletes that are based in Pakistan? “Unlike other sports, Pakistan is [generally] still unaware of what a triathlon is,” Sana says. “ So, I cannot say how athletes back in Pakistan have the facility to train. For me, being in Kuwait, I got support from triathletes around the world in understanding what the sport is, meeting like-minded people who would understand your struggles and help you as well.”

But there is a downside to training in Kuwait. “The temperature reaches 50 plus Celsius during summers so to bicycle and run outdoors was a huge challenge,” Sana relates. “Some days I had to get up at 4am to be ready for training.

“I train alone 95 per cent of the time and indoors during summers,” she adds. “We don’t have bike lanes here, so we would go for rides on the roads, just like in Pakistan. So if I talk about my personal experience regarding triathlon training, it wouldn’t have been too different from people living in Pakistan. Athletes in Pakistan may disagree, but this is my experience.”

There’s been some controversy in local sports and fitness circles about dual nationals based abroad taking full advantage of the training opportunities in the country they are in and, yet, when it comes time to compete, registering as ‘Pakistanis’ in international events so they can get a better ranking. Some of these athletes have previously shown no interest in even engaging with Pakistani athletes based in Pakistan. As a Pakistani athlete (though not a dual national) based in Kuwait, how does Sana feel about this?

“Yes, in some countries, you do get more and better opportunities to train and compete whereas, in Pakistan, you may not be getting the same and would have to put in more effort than others. So, I understand where they are coming from,” Sana responds.

“Morally, it’s wrong to register as a Pakistani just to get the ranking but, sometimes, those athletes are also not welcomed by the communities in Pakistan,” she says, “I tried on my behalf to engage but, forget about being welcomed, I wasn’t even entertained.”

The friction between these two types of athletes has made the sports culture of Pakistan very toxic and Sana is especially tired of athletes that engage in sports just to get the distinction of the “first Pakistani…”

“[For example] there are athletes who go for these events just to be the ‘First Pakistani to do this in fastest time’, ‘First Pakistani to do that in first attempt’, ‘First Pakistani to do that with sunglasses on’, ‘First to wave a flag at the event’, ‘First Pakistani to do this after cooking biryani at home in the fastest time!’,” she laughs while compiling an exaggerated list of ‘First Pakistani’ titles.

“What’s sad is that [some] athletes lie about these claims and people believe them, especially Pakistani media,” says Sana. “It doesn’t look like these athletes are here for the love of sport but for recognition alone somehow.”

She pauses. “I am not here for recognition alone, I am here for my love for this sport and whether I’m recognised or not is not going to stop me,” she affirms. “You just have to be honest and focused on yourself and your sport rather than trying to show you are better than anyone else doing that same sport.”

Sana’s are words to live by.

The writer is a journalist, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and radio correspondent

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 2nd, 2025