In a throwback to the Budhia Singh controversy, Anastasia Barla of Panchara village began her run at around 11.30 pm on Thursday. Her tiny feet rested only after 12 hours, a report reaching Rourkela said. Anastasia was found missing from her bed on Thursday night by her parents.
They found her running in the dead of the night. Hundreds of villagers gathered at the local playground to cheer her as she resolved to honour her decision to complete a 100 km run between Sundargarh and Rourkela on October 2.
The girl had hit the headlines after the Budhia saga, when she completed a 60-km run in five hours and 23 minutes in the presence of Congress legislator Gregory Minz, himself a former state hockey player.
Anastasia, trained by Dominic Lakra, had announced her decision to run for 100 km on Independence Day. But the plan had to be shelved after the district administration denied her permission to do so.