Curtains came down on The Great India Run 2022 amidst much fanfare in a glittering ceremony here at Nehru Park here on Monday.The relay-run which covered a distance of 829 kilometers and travelled all the way from Lal Chowk, Srinagar to New Delhi culminated in the presence of more than 500 fans and onlookers who rejoiced at the venue decorated with Indian flags.
The mood was patriotic not a single person present at the venue was without a Tricolour in their hands.The Great India Run which is an initiative of the iTV & iTV Foundation was organized to celebrate the 75th Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign saw 11 bravehearts run with tricolour in their hands for 10 consecutive days spreading the message of unity and brotherhood.
The culmination ceremony was attended by Honorable Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, Honorable Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha Shri Kartikeya Sharma, Honorable Member of Lok Sabha Shri Manoj Tiwari and host of sporting luminaries including Chetan Sharma, BCCI selection committee chairman, Dr. Deepa Malik, Paralympic games silver medalist and Padmashree awardee, Dr. Sunita Godara, Asian marathon champion, Rohit Tokas 2022 CWG bronze medalist, Saba Karim former Indian cricketer, veteran Indian shooter Samresh Jung, Rajkumar Sharma Dronacharya awardee & coach of Virat Kohli amongst others.
At the culmination ceremony, the dignitaries and guests lauded the efforts of the runners and appreciated the efforts of iTV Network for organizing this run.Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma paid tribute to the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign and appreciated the efforts of the runners without whom The Great India Run would not have been successful.
“The Great India Run 2022 has been an historic event and created a record of sorts as never before any run of this magnitude was flagged-off from Lal Chowk, Kashmir. With all my heart, I congratulate the 11 bravehearts and ultra-runners led by Arun Bhardwaj to have undertaken this challenge and completed the gruelling 829km run from Kashmir to Delhi with the Tricolour in hand spreading the message of Unity and Integrity to their fellow country mates.
It is by no means a mean task to have run from Kashmir to Delhi and I appreciate their efforts and believe their efforts will leave a long lasting memory in the minds of the entire country and the vision of Ek Desh,Ek Samvidhan, Ek Jhanda, Har Ghar Tiranga will be very soon realised,” Shri Kartikeya Sharma said.
Talking during the historic effort Dr Jitendra Singh appreciated the event and said, “It is indeed a wonderful initiative and I would like to thank Kartikeya Ji and ITV Group for this wonderful initiative and I quite sure this will help a lot in not only promoting running as sport in the country but also spread a positive message of Unity and Integrity.”
Shri Manoj Tiwari said, “It is an honour to be part of this event. It is really great and to unfurl the national flag at the Lal Chowk is simply fabulous. I would request Kartikeya Ji to come up with more initiatives like this which keeps the country united.”