Out of the world experience!!

It feels truly amazing... To watch a crowd of thousands warming up and jostling for space at the starting area.. Watching the Orange-Red ball rise over Mumbai's skyline while running on the sea link... Getting your bit of inspiration on watching the professionals literally sprint across on the other side... Running on our very own Marine Drive... Getting a dash of energy from the cheering crowd on the sidewalks...

Until I got to the last couple of kilometres before the finish line... A gruelling patch... But all of the above bundled up with the enthusiasm of running 21 km for the first time, just beats the fatigue.. I almost sprinted the last 200-300 metres to finish line.. The gross timing was around 2 hrs 3 minutes.. Just within the target of 2 hrs 5 minutes.. This one did go down to the wire!

So ppl, the results are simple.. Those who bet on me (Rs.18K) won.. Their winning is Rs.6K... Half of this (Rs.3K) goes to the Green Cause, and winners get to keep the other half. Though, you always have an option to donate your winnings and the money you bet for the Cause...

Of the winners,
Sourabh (1000 +166) , Kaushik (1000+167), Shree (1000+167) and myself (5000+833) have decided to give our bets and winnings for the cause.. So, we have collected Rs. 12,333/- .. Guess we are moving closer to the targeted amount, but still some way to go..! Need your supporting hands, friends!

Two closing bets recieved 2k in favour, 1k from Pallavi and 1k from DD.And 1k against from Manish Harodia.So the closing odds are 6/18(33 paise) in my favour.

Just 5 days.. Is that 120 hours?!

Running at picturesque locations is fun.... I ran in Nashik, from College Road to Sula Vineyards and back on Sunday.. This coincided with the Annual Nashik Run yesterday, where about 5,000 of Nashikites were running! Great! When you run, the world runs with you :)

Timing Update
Anyway, the timing update for this Sunday (10/01/2010): 16.5 km, 94 minutes... think i was enchanted by the scenic beauty near Sula vineyards.. Or may be coz we ran at around 10.00 am, which was a bit sunny...

Positions
Plus, I have two more bets.. 1K in favour, 1K against.. (While Sourabh has bet in my favour, my office colleague Alpna thinks otherwise!) So the Odds now are 4/16...

The Cause: Green Revolution Ver.2.0
The Cause for which I am dedicating half of the winnings is planting /maintaining / transplanting trees in Nashik. We (My brother Nilesh, his friend Shekhar and our team of youngsters to be precise!) have already planted more than 1,000 saplings over the last 8 years, which have grown into green shady treees.. Now the aim is to increase the coverage and help survive those which have taken roots.. We are buying a water tanker for watering these plants during the difficult summer months (part funding the cost of a second hand tanker Rs. 20K). Anybody who is not aware of the work over the last 8 years is free to come and visit my place..

So here is an appeal for the greener and cooler world..! Rush ... Raise the stakes...

Bets skewed - Odds are 3/15 in my favour!

Timing Update
More road running this Sunday.. Did 15 km in a hilly terrain near Nashik / Trimbakeshwar.. Pleasant weather.. clocked 81 minutes... Route map of the race was declared recently. It starts from Bandra (Opp. Rang Sharda Auditorium, near Lilavati Hospital). We'll be some of the first runners on the spectacular Sea Link. Then we move to Worli Dairy, to Pedder Road to Churchgate via Marine Drive and finally end at CST!

Betting Update
A big fish has entered the waters recently..! Gautam from Kolkata has bet Rs.5k in favour of the performance. Shree Bhutada has also bet Rs.1k in my favour. So the bets now stand at Rs.15k in my favour and Rs.3k against me. i.e. The odds are in my favour @ 3:15.. The odds are heavily skewed in favour of the performance. Note that your returns depend upon odds just before the start of the marathon.

Need more bets ppl.. on either side! You may note that the first kilometre is normally slow due to the crowd of runners at the venue! This will just add to my final timing..

UPDATE: 18km of Road Running

Here comes a new time and new distance...

Have started with Road running over last couple weeks, as the main race will be on the roads of Mumbai!
Have clocked 1 hr 42 minutes for 18 km today (December 27, 2009).. But its been a tough day today.. with painful joints and knees.... This is the maximum distance before the marathon and the tapering down begins from here on...

Bets are still open guys..!

UPDATE: Who is 'In-the-money' right now??

More than a month after the announcement, and some word-of-the mouth publicity, here is an update...
There's is Rs.12K riding on me.. That is,
Rs.9K in my favour (finishing half marathon within 130 minutes) - Positive people, who believe in my determination and training ;)
Ashu Z - Rs.5K
Kaushik, Harshal, Rashmi Rajmane, Anand Soniminde - Rs. 1K each..

And, there are some who are more practical and experienced... But, they can be wrong (!)
Saurabh Agrawal, Vishal Agarwal, Kunal Rawal - Rs.1K each.
While Saurabh runs everyday at Shivaji Park, Vishal had run 21 km last year. Kunal has also been running the marathon and his best time is 2 hrs 15 mins..

So the odds are in my favour @ 3:1...

In terms of training,
I clocked 75 minutes for 15 km at Joggers' Park yesterday (05/12/09). After this performance, and to throw more excitement into the game, I am reducing the target time to 2 hrs 5 minutes..!!

So folks, game is on and the bets are open...!!

Make some money while I run...!

Hmmm… Recently concluded Champions League T20 tournament was bad for Indian teams…Disappointed, the team-owners have gotten busy with their routine business (actually the businesses that help pump-in cash into these cricket teams!).. However, I have bumped into something exciting in this tournament… Betting..! So far, I didn’t exactly bother to learn the fundamentals here (as if our stock market wasn’t enough)… But as we all know, losing (yeah yeah, I lost some money…) has some advantages too…. Lessons for life… I learned the fundamentals of betting!

So we (my roommate, a bookie in the making (!) and I) stumbled upon an idea… Why not let you guys bet on my performance? Of course, the purpose is to have fun and raise some money for a good cause… This is how it will work…

I have decided to run half marathon in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010. The event is scheduled to be held on 17th January, 2010. And it is 25th October, 2009 today. So, just 75 days to go…!

The rules are listed below:

As of today, in my life, I have never run beyond 10 km in a single go. I clocked a time of 57 minutes today for a 10 km jog. I have been practicing over the last 7-8 months. I am pledging (betting!) Rs.5,000 today on my targeted performance i.e. Completion of the half marathon (21 km) within 2 hours 10 minutes (130 minutes)

I am inviting you guys to pledge (bet!) in favour of / against my performance. Yeah, you got it right…! If you believe in my grit and determination, you bet on my successful finishing within 130 minutes ;)

Let me explain how this is going to work.. Take an example. To start with, I have bet Rs.5,000 (this is for real, I AM pledging Rs.5,000) on my own performance. Now, there’s my friend, Harshal, who feels I am overestimating myself, bets Rs.2,000 against my performance. So, at this stage, the odds are in my favour at 2/5.

Hence, Harshal at this stage is making Rs.5,000 on his investment of Rs.2,000. However, his returns would change based on new bets.

However, over a period of time, if more people believe that I won’t make it within the time, and they bet against me. Let’s say, Rs.20,000. At this stage, the odds are against me at 5/20
At this stage, Harshal’s return on his investment of Rs.2,000 will fetch him only Rs.500. You can time your investment based on good returns.

Now, get ready for some complications….!

The Charity Element

Whichever side wins…The people on that side have to donate half of their winnings to charity / a noble cause (Standard Chartered announces list of registered charities). So, though your returns shrink a bit, note that the reduction is going to make a real difference to somebody’s life…As the money will be for real.

In any of my practice sessions, if I beat this time (130 minutes), the challenge will revise to the new time.

Minimum bet is Rs.1,000.

I will publish the updated odds on the comments section of this blog based of the frequency of commitments. http://my-marathon-moments.blogspot.com/2009/11/make-some-money-while-i-run.html#comments.

I will include the latest position in odds calculations on a firm commitment from your side. However, requesting you to please make only those commitments which you can honour (This is for REAL, the Charity is for REAL)… I am actually doing this for raising money for charity, the fun element is just to invite more people and raise more money.

I will strive to finish the race within the committed timing. I hope you get the rules, folks…If you still don’t, call me to understand.

So all in all, more the number of people joining, more the money for a good cause…So, lift up your spirits and loosen your purse strings, as I pull my socks for this event…! You never know, you might just end up making a killing. If not, you should be satisfied, that half of your loss is going for a good cause..!

Just for the facts:

The men’s world record for full marathon is a timing of 2:03:59 clocked by Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) on September 28, 2008 at the Berlin marathon (Source: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression).

Whereas, men’s world record for half marathon is a timing of 58:33 clocked by Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) on March 17, 2007 at Hague, Netherlands. However, you have to take an informed decision based on these superhuman performances by the world-class athletes, your understanding of my capabilities and of course, some amount for a good cause…!

Go ahead... laugh your way to the bank.... While running, of course!! :)