Mumbai’s Ultrathon race (an Ultrathon is any running distance above the traditional 42.2 km full marathon distance) has been replaced by a 12-hour blood donation drive since the past year. The Shivaji Park organisers of the Mumbai Ultra, which was a 12-hour run, will hold what they catchily call Operation Blood Flood for the second time, at the Veer Savarkar Smarak ground, opposite the park on Independence Day, August 15. The timings are from 8 am to 8 pm.

The event, in association with the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) was challenging last year, “as blood donation had dropped drastically because of Covid-19 fears. This time, the big question for people is whether they can donate blood after taking the vaccine, or before taking it. They can donate blood 14 days post Covid-19 vaccination. People can donate blood, and then wait  or keep a time window of approximately 48 hours and then proceed to take the vaccine,” said doctors at a virtual conference announcing the event. The medical professionals and organisers claimed the vaccination and donation question was the biggest query hanging over the event, so it was important that doubts were clarified and people have answers and assurance.