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..