The run was a part of the India Flag Run. Speaking during the felicitation programme, Vijay said, “I was not sure that i will be able to complete the run when I registered for the event. But once I registered for the run, I started training hard. It is because of the discipline, and the commitment that I made to myself that I was able to achieve the target,” he said.
About running his first ultra marathon, he says, “It was absolutely beautiful. It was a hard race however, I was running without knowing what was going to happen to my body because I had never run that distance before. Even during training, I had run only up to 35 kms, so it was not easy for me to accept the pain because I didn’t know what was coming. Regardless of your experience, your level of fitness, a 72kms run will hurt and hurt for a very long time,'' he added.
Other Ultra Runers Ashish Agrawal (100kms), Soodesh Jhawar (100), Sandeep Maheswari (80kms), who had run on November 22, 2020 were also felicitated.
Mitesh Rambhia, Manoj Agrawal, Surjeet Bhasin, Rajesh Datar, Nikhil Bajoria, Satish Sarda, Mamta Sarda, Neena Shahu, Renu Kaur Sidhu, Nikunj Shahu, O. P. Agrawal, Jetane Gopwani and other members of Nagpur Runners & Riders encouraged Vijay Gupta and were prominently present during the felicitation ceremony.