He hit the wall at his first Mumbai Marathon in 2013. Walked the last 10 kilometers. Finished in 4:02. And came home thinking — I can do better.

Thirteen years later, Vijayraghavan Venugopal — known as ViRa — has run sub-3 thirteen times, completed all six World Marathon Majors, and clocked a personal best of 2:47:17 at Cape Town in 2026.

In Episode 257 of Run with Fitpage, Vikas sits down with ViRa for a detailed conversation about what it actually takes to go from a 4:02 first-timer to one of India's most consistent sub-3 marathon runners over 13 years of learning, failing, and coming back stronger.

In this episode we covered:

➝ Growing up in Kerala in the golden era of Indian athletics — and why cricket became his sport when football and athletics felt out of reach

➝ His first marathon at Mumbai 2013 — the wall at Haji Ali, the walk home, and the one decision that changed everything

➝ How he went from 4:02 to 3:31 in five months using a single book — Run Less Run Faster

➝ The only marathon he ever won — Spice Coast 2015 — and why a police escort to the finish line changed what he believed was possible

➝ Paris 2016 — how he broke sub-3 for the first time without even planning to

➝ New York 2019 — buying a Vaporfly three days before the race to compensate for a lack of confidence — and what happened next

➝ The L4-L5 disc extrusion that almost ended his running — and the six-month rebuild that followed

➝ What 20 days in Kenya in 2023 taught him about running that 10 years of training could not

➝ How he restructured everything after 2022 — strength training, easy runs, mileage, sleep, nutrition — and why the results finally showed up in 2024 and 2025

➝ Four marathons in 14 months at 50 — London, New York, Mumbai, Cape Town — and what comes next

About Vikas Singh:
Vikas Singh, an MBA from Chicago Booth, worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, APGlobale, and Reliance before coming up with the idea of democratizing fitness knowledge and helping beginners get on a fitness journey. Vikas is an avid long-distance runner, building fitpage to help people learn, train, and move better.
For more information on Vikas, or to leave any feedback and requests, you can reach out to him via the channels below:
Instagram: @vikas_singhh
LinkedIn: Vikas Singh
Twitter: @vikashsingh101

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A free office registration for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in 2017. A 2:45 finish. Cramps at every kilometre. Medical assistance on the route. And absolutely no intention of ever running again.

That was Megha Kishore's introduction to running.

In Episode of Run with Fitpage, Vikas Singh sits down with Megha — certified marathon coach, ASICS Delhi Coach, Hyrox Delhi gold medalist, and one of India's most competitive age category runners — for a conversation about what it actually takes to go from a reluctant first-timer to a serial podium finisher while managing a full-time career, a family, and everything else life throws at you.

In this episode we covered:

• How a COVID lockdown in the UK turned a gym-goer into a runner — and why she never looked back
• Traveling 3 hours every day just to train for 1 hour — and what that kind of obsession actually costs
• What changed when she stopped trying to be perfect at everything — and how that shift unlocked her best performances
• How she trained for Hyrox Delhi in the scorching June heat — doing burpees and lunges on outdoor grass in direct sun — and finished in 1:24:45
• Why most people get Hyrox completely wrong — the one mistake that sends everyone crashing in the final stations
• Running by feel versus running by heart rate — and why she has never once looked at her watch during a race
• What she would tell every Indian woman who thinks she does not have enough time, enough energy, or the right age to start

About Vikas Singh:
Vikas Singh, an MBA from Chicago Booth, worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, APGlobale, and Reliance before coming up with the idea of democratizing fitness knowledge and helping beginners get on a fitness journey. Vikas is an avid long-distance runner, building fitpage to help people learn, train, and move better.
For more information on Vikas, or to leave any feedback and requests, you can reach out to him via the channels below:
Instagram: @vikas_singhh
LinkedIn: Vikas Singh
Twitter: @vikashsingh101

Subscribe To Our Newsletter For Weekly Nuggets of Knowledge!

India swept gold, silver, and bronze at the IAU 24-Hour Asia Oceania Championship in Japan in 2026 — beating Japan on their home soil with a team total that no Asian country had ever achieved in IAU history.

In Episode 256 of Run with Fitpage, Vikas Singh sits down with Santhosh Padmanabhan — Founder of Runner's High and Head Coach & Team Manager of the Indian team at the 2026 IAU 24-Hour Asia Oceania Championships — for a conversation about what it actually takes to build a team that can beat the best in Asia, what the science of 24-hour running looks like in practice, and why everything he learned coaching underprivileged school children in Bengaluru eventually found its way into India's championship-winning ultra running programme.

In this episode we covered:

• How a $100,000 fundraiser for underprivileged children in 2004 turned a VLSI chip engineer into one of India's most respected running coaches
• Why Santhosh believes PT class is the most undervalued hour in any Indian school — and how he built a programme that teaches VO2 Max to tribal children using a bucket, a tube, and balloons
• How India went from never winning a championship outside home soil to sweeping gold, silver, and bronze at the IAU 24-Hour Asia Oceania Championship in Japan in 2026
• Why training for a 24-hour race is fundamentally different from marathon training — and the one mistake almost every Indian ultra runner makes
• How Santhosh structures 12-hour day runs, 12-hour night runs, and intervals inside long runs to simulate race-day fatigue without breaking his athletes down
• Why he does not believe in sleep breaks during a 24-hour race — and the science behind running through the night
• The team culture he built that made Amar Singh Devanda — now among only 11 people in history to ever cover his distance in 24 hours — run even better
• What India needs to do to stop being Asia's best and start competing for a world championship medal
• Padmanabhan — Founder of Runner's High, USATF Level 2 Coach, and the man behind India's national ultra running programme — for a conversation about what it actually takes to coach athletes for 24 hours of continuous running.

About Vikas Singh:
Vikas Singh, an MBA from Chicago Booth, worked at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, APGlobale, and Reliance before coming up with the idea of democratizing fitness knowledge and helping beginners get on a fitness journey. Vikas is an avid long-distance runner, building fitpage to help people learn, train, and move better.
For more information on Vikas, or to leave any feedback and requests, you can reach out to him via the channels below:
Instagram: @vikas_singhh
LinkedIn: Vikas Singh
Twitter: @vikashsingh101

Subscribe To Our Newsletter For Weekly Nuggets of Knowledge!