Bib | Name | Category | Finish Time | Chip Time |
| 9502 | RISHI MADAN | MOPEN | 02:49:30 | 02:47:18 |
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
mumbai half contd
I stand corrected. I did not finish the Mumbai Half in 2 hrs 48 mins as I proclaimed... but in 2 hrs 47 min 18 secs !!yaaay !
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Mumbai marathon
Being completely Gung Ho abt the whole half marathon thing and before even running my second half marathon (the delhi half) I registered for the Mumbai half ! Which I ran today. And finished.
The run was quite good. Some key things which immediately stood out
- since the start point and end point were 21.097 kms apart, the organisers had implemented a marvellous idea for bagge storage for the runners. They had trucks being used as storage. Each with a number on it to identify. and after the race started, the truckes moved to the finish line and wre available for people to take their stuff back! Awesome simple idea.
- the people were a bit more well behaved then the Delhi crowd. no was peeing on the walls in the holding area as they did in Delhi. But then the auth. were stupid not to provide any port-a-potty or a water station. At least in Delhi they had organised port-a-pottys.
- the humidity, it was easy to start sweating within 15 mins of starting the runa at a leisurely pace. It acually becae a bit easier once the sunn came up and the drenching stopped
- the smell, Mumbai stinks, literally. Through out the run there were stinks that lasted a couple of kms making it diffficult
- the no. of water stations were so low and poorly organised. people had to climb over each other to get to that precious bottle of water. They were also not as frequent or large or well equipped as in delhi
- Delhi provided entertainment on rout in the way of live bands, cheerleaders, dancers, good music to give that extra push. Not in Mumbai. The only thing was a small 200 mtr stretch with "Rose Sound' the old style bhompu kind of speakers who had torn to shred the whole body n soul of the sound coming out. What were they thinking ?
Luckily there was a nice girl running ahead of me with her mp3 player who was singing aloud the sings she was listening too. Entertainment !
- ofcourse neither Delhi nor mumbai believe in providing dustbins to throw away the empty bottles / peels. This inspite of the Clean mumbai posters through out the route. maybe they were just posters, no meaning.
- Mumbai also has some hot ladies. Here I mean physically. Both running and on road sides cheering us on. Another factor which added the smile to my face. btw I think this was one marathon where I was smiling throughout inspite of some nagging things.
- The best part of Mumbai - the people ! They were awesome. They were out on the road with water, oranges, bananas, biscuits, candys and the most important motivating cheers. More than once they put the pep in my step and a smile on my face to keep on running and reach the finish line.
- Finish line - no markers for exit, where to go, information desk - nothing. so either walk in a wrong direction or ask people around. took me 1.5 hrs of loitering, 5 kms of walking to get the to the car.
btw I finished in 2hrs 48 mins and reached the final in good shape no aches, no pains. The trach was difficult with some 2-3 kms of upward incline, 1 flyover and the bandra worli sea link. a couple of pics i took.
Speed Limit 50kmph
No overtaking
The sea link !
after the half.
ADDENDUM :
The story at the airport.
My 2.45 PM Kingfisher flight got delayed and was finally scheduled at 4.00 pm. They were nice enuf to keep informing abt same. I arrived at 3.00 pm, checked in, went to the Kf lounge, had a beer and some snacks and 3.30 went for the security. Standing in the serpentine queue with just 4-5 people ahead of me I was on schedule. Then when i started emptying my pockets into my bag, I realised I did not have my boarding pass. In retrospect, I would have loved to see the shock on my face. In any case, i backtracked to outside the queue to look for my boarding pass. There was a kingfisher fellow and as I was approaching him another guy was also walking towards him with a boarding pass he had found :) Awesome.
Time 3. 35
Well then came the security. Both my jacket & handbag went in for the X-ray. My hand bag was packed the same was as was on my trip from Delhi, no addition / subtractions except adding vada pao for Sue. After the X-ray the guy kept my bag aside saying I had a lighter in there. I opened up my bad with all contents outside but no lighter. There was a a wafting smell of the Vada paos though. Well they went through the bag with a fine toothe comb and still no lighter. Then the constable went into one of the side pockets and came up with the lighter ! It was a complimentary to be given away therefore forgotten. Surprising was the secirity in Delhi had cleared the bag without batting an eyelid. So Security ??
Time 3.48 - after the security I ran down the corridor to get to the staircase, flew done the staircase and reached the sirity gate where the ground staff stood fuming seeing how short I had cut the time. Then came the second shock. In the hassle of the security check I had clean forgotten my jacket. I kept my bag with security chap, flew up the stairs , ran dow the corridor on to the X ray belt and true to goodness my jacket was there, squashed by the oncoming baggages.
Time 3.53
With the jacket onto my shoulders and then for the third time i ran down the corridors, flew down the stairs and on to the gate. Then with poise i handed them the boarding card and quitely walked in, knowing they cannot leave without me.
Time 4.00
On the flight, my seat was the second before last 29 D so i walked again to the end of the plane and took my seat next to a nice beautiful Kingfisher air-hostess. Yippee, i thought. After unpacking my book n music i settled in my seat. Food came pretty quick. i had 10 molecules - 5 each of the chat & the seek kebab and the terrible taste was disgusting me but i didnt make any faces as the pretty Kf girl was eating it all up ! What a turn off ! SO i slept only to wake up in Delhi.
The run was quite good. Some key things which immediately stood out
- since the start point and end point were 21.097 kms apart, the organisers had implemented a marvellous idea for bagge storage for the runners. They had trucks being used as storage. Each with a number on it to identify. and after the race started, the truckes moved to the finish line and wre available for people to take their stuff back! Awesome simple idea.
- the people were a bit more well behaved then the Delhi crowd. no was peeing on the walls in the holding area as they did in Delhi. But then the auth. were stupid not to provide any port-a-potty or a water station. At least in Delhi they had organised port-a-pottys.
- the humidity, it was easy to start sweating within 15 mins of starting the runa at a leisurely pace. It acually becae a bit easier once the sunn came up and the drenching stopped
- the smell, Mumbai stinks, literally. Through out the run there were stinks that lasted a couple of kms making it diffficult
- the no. of water stations were so low and poorly organised. people had to climb over each other to get to that precious bottle of water. They were also not as frequent or large or well equipped as in delhi
- Delhi provided entertainment on rout in the way of live bands, cheerleaders, dancers, good music to give that extra push. Not in Mumbai. The only thing was a small 200 mtr stretch with "Rose Sound' the old style bhompu kind of speakers who had torn to shred the whole body n soul of the sound coming out. What were they thinking ?
Luckily there was a nice girl running ahead of me with her mp3 player who was singing aloud the sings she was listening too. Entertainment !
- ofcourse neither Delhi nor mumbai believe in providing dustbins to throw away the empty bottles / peels. This inspite of the Clean mumbai posters through out the route. maybe they were just posters, no meaning.
- Mumbai also has some hot ladies. Here I mean physically. Both running and on road sides cheering us on. Another factor which added the smile to my face. btw I think this was one marathon where I was smiling throughout inspite of some nagging things.
- The best part of Mumbai - the people ! They were awesome. They were out on the road with water, oranges, bananas, biscuits, candys and the most important motivating cheers. More than once they put the pep in my step and a smile on my face to keep on running and reach the finish line.
- Finish line - no markers for exit, where to go, information desk - nothing. so either walk in a wrong direction or ask people around. took me 1.5 hrs of loitering, 5 kms of walking to get the to the car.
btw I finished in 2hrs 48 mins and reached the final in good shape no aches, no pains. The trach was difficult with some 2-3 kms of upward incline, 1 flyover and the bandra worli sea link. a couple of pics i took.
Speed Limit 50kmph
No overtaking
The sea link !
after the half.
ADDENDUM :
The story at the airport.
My 2.45 PM Kingfisher flight got delayed and was finally scheduled at 4.00 pm. They were nice enuf to keep informing abt same. I arrived at 3.00 pm, checked in, went to the Kf lounge, had a beer and some snacks and 3.30 went for the security. Standing in the serpentine queue with just 4-5 people ahead of me I was on schedule. Then when i started emptying my pockets into my bag, I realised I did not have my boarding pass. In retrospect, I would have loved to see the shock on my face. In any case, i backtracked to outside the queue to look for my boarding pass. There was a kingfisher fellow and as I was approaching him another guy was also walking towards him with a boarding pass he had found :) Awesome.
Time 3. 35
Well then came the security. Both my jacket & handbag went in for the X-ray. My hand bag was packed the same was as was on my trip from Delhi, no addition / subtractions except adding vada pao for Sue. After the X-ray the guy kept my bag aside saying I had a lighter in there. I opened up my bad with all contents outside but no lighter. There was a a wafting smell of the Vada paos though. Well they went through the bag with a fine toothe comb and still no lighter. Then the constable went into one of the side pockets and came up with the lighter ! It was a complimentary to be given away therefore forgotten. Surprising was the secirity in Delhi had cleared the bag without batting an eyelid. So Security ??
Time 3.48 - after the security I ran down the corridor to get to the staircase, flew done the staircase and reached the sirity gate where the ground staff stood fuming seeing how short I had cut the time. Then came the second shock. In the hassle of the security check I had clean forgotten my jacket. I kept my bag with security chap, flew up the stairs , ran dow the corridor on to the X ray belt and true to goodness my jacket was there, squashed by the oncoming baggages.
Time 3.53
With the jacket onto my shoulders and then for the third time i ran down the corridors, flew down the stairs and on to the gate. Then with poise i handed them the boarding card and quitely walked in, knowing they cannot leave without me.
Time 4.00
On the flight, my seat was the second before last 29 D so i walked again to the end of the plane and took my seat next to a nice beautiful Kingfisher air-hostess. Yippee, i thought. After unpacking my book n music i settled in my seat. Food came pretty quick. i had 10 molecules - 5 each of the chat & the seek kebab and the terrible taste was disgusting me but i didnt make any faces as the pretty Kf girl was eating it all up ! What a turn off ! SO i slept only to wake up in Delhi.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
My chance meeting with an impressionable personality
On my return flight from Nagpur on the 4th November 2009, i was sitting in the 1st row of Kingfisher flight, all decked with my music & book ready for a short flight back to Mumbai. Sitting next to me is a couple, a middle aged fattish guy n his wife on the window seat.
As usual, the overhead luggage compartment is completely full and has no space for the bags of the two gentlemen who have just walked in to occupy their seats on the 1st low across from me. This guy is dressed in jeans, brown shoes and a open necked white shirt, some scraggy white hair on his head, slightly unkempt and glasses, horn rimmed glasses. The other chappie was wearing a coat, white shirt n tie.
In his tow are two crew members of KF airlines kow-towing to him and all bent over kissing a lot of ass. immediately suspicions were up that he was a celeb or a VIP. These guys had two bags which found no space on the overhead luggage compartment. So the air hostess proceeds, without asking around, to remove the bag already there and replace it with this guys bag, lets call him Mr. G.
The guy sitting next to me suddenly erupts. He goes " What the hell ? why are you removing my bag ? How can you remove my bag without even asking me ? Who is he - some kind of VIP " Mr. G speaks up immediately - " No sir, I am no VIP, even if I was this still should not happen at all" then he turns to the air hostess and asks her " please remove my bag and let the gentleman's bag remains there, you may look for another convenient place. Sorry sir for this, she was only trying to help." The fattish guy goes " She should not have done that, the least she could have done was ask me". He is now a bit cooled down due to the fantastic handling of the situation by Mr. G. The air hostess in the meantime quips up to mr G, " Sir I will ask the captain to keep your bag in the cockpit". I am now looking at him with renewed interest. fantastic conflict handling.
I do not know him from any other persons and soon the flight lands at Mumbai. We are queued up for disembarking. The fattish guy, my neighbour, speaks up again. he goes," I am sure you are a VIP, sir, tell me who you are ?" Mr. G says," No no I am no VIP, I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you" The guy is persistent, " I am 100% sure you are a VIP" he turns to the airhostess, " please tell me who he is "
She turn around, and says," He is Captain Gopinath" (erstwhile of Deccan Airways)
This guys is now sheepish and says," sorry I was rude" and Captain G says that his reaction was natural and not to worry.
I, now an avid reader of Forbes India magazine, had finished reading an article the week before about the new venture of Captain G, starting a cargo airline with nationwide network and central operation of warehousing, stocking etc at Nagpur. In fact the same morning (when we had arrived from Mumbai) we had see the craft and explained in detail the operation to my German colleague.
I gather some courage and tell him : "Congratulations on your new venture. It is something that was needed in the country for a long time and it is sure to be a big success. " He turn around and says " thanks, this is my new venture and we are making nagpur as the distribution hub as it is the centre of India and very convenient logistically" I am sure a nicely negotiated deal with the Nagpur airport will also have some role to play in this.
He then starts to talk about what they are doing and what they plan to do. This is all while we are waiting for the rolling stairs to come and transport us to the sweet firm ground.
Not being able to resist, after listening to his spiel about his products and to do justice to my German colleague, Dr. Sven Wieczorek, I smile proudly and tell him " My colleague & I sell super speciality gear pumps and were on abusines strip to meet a customer. If you were need some talk to us."
With this we are gone in a swish. Me remebering him to be a seemingly humble guy not out to blow his horn and probably him remebering me as the guy who sells super speciality gear pumps.
As usual, the overhead luggage compartment is completely full and has no space for the bags of the two gentlemen who have just walked in to occupy their seats on the 1st low across from me. This guy is dressed in jeans, brown shoes and a open necked white shirt, some scraggy white hair on his head, slightly unkempt and glasses, horn rimmed glasses. The other chappie was wearing a coat, white shirt n tie.
In his tow are two crew members of KF airlines kow-towing to him and all bent over kissing a lot of ass. immediately suspicions were up that he was a celeb or a VIP. These guys had two bags which found no space on the overhead luggage compartment. So the air hostess proceeds, without asking around, to remove the bag already there and replace it with this guys bag, lets call him Mr. G.
The guy sitting next to me suddenly erupts. He goes " What the hell ? why are you removing my bag ? How can you remove my bag without even asking me ? Who is he - some kind of VIP " Mr. G speaks up immediately - " No sir, I am no VIP, even if I was this still should not happen at all" then he turns to the air hostess and asks her " please remove my bag and let the gentleman's bag remains there, you may look for another convenient place. Sorry sir for this, she was only trying to help." The fattish guy goes " She should not have done that, the least she could have done was ask me". He is now a bit cooled down due to the fantastic handling of the situation by Mr. G. The air hostess in the meantime quips up to mr G, " Sir I will ask the captain to keep your bag in the cockpit". I am now looking at him with renewed interest. fantastic conflict handling.
I do not know him from any other persons and soon the flight lands at Mumbai. We are queued up for disembarking. The fattish guy, my neighbour, speaks up again. he goes," I am sure you are a VIP, sir, tell me who you are ?" Mr. G says," No no I am no VIP, I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you" The guy is persistent, " I am 100% sure you are a VIP" he turns to the airhostess, " please tell me who he is "
She turn around, and says," He is Captain Gopinath" (erstwhile of Deccan Airways)
This guys is now sheepish and says," sorry I was rude" and Captain G says that his reaction was natural and not to worry.
I, now an avid reader of Forbes India magazine, had finished reading an article the week before about the new venture of Captain G, starting a cargo airline with nationwide network and central operation of warehousing, stocking etc at Nagpur. In fact the same morning (when we had arrived from Mumbai) we had see the craft and explained in detail the operation to my German colleague.
I gather some courage and tell him : "Congratulations on your new venture. It is something that was needed in the country for a long time and it is sure to be a big success. " He turn around and says " thanks, this is my new venture and we are making nagpur as the distribution hub as it is the centre of India and very convenient logistically" I am sure a nicely negotiated deal with the Nagpur airport will also have some role to play in this.
He then starts to talk about what they are doing and what they plan to do. This is all while we are waiting for the rolling stairs to come and transport us to the sweet firm ground.
Not being able to resist, after listening to his spiel about his products and to do justice to my German colleague, Dr. Sven Wieczorek, I smile proudly and tell him " My colleague & I sell super speciality gear pumps and were on abusines strip to meet a customer. If you were need some talk to us."
With this we are gone in a swish. Me remebering him to be a seemingly humble guy not out to blow his horn and probably him remebering me as the guy who sells super speciality gear pumps.
street food in surat
Surat snacks
Went for a snack-walk near the railway station / bus stand in Surat to sample the local taste.
First stop was the pani puri (gol gappas). Atta (wheat flour) balls with a mixture of potato, black grams (kala chana) some spices and finally the spicy water. The water was not colored as in Delhi but tasted good. Bloody cheap too - for 7 bucks i got 14 of them balls and not heavy at all. I think the mumbai / pune is awesome and better just for the fact that they have the warm chick pea (safed chana) stuffing. Total time a good part of 5 mins.
Second stop, was a omlete pao. A one egg omlete seriously shook-up and put on a hot stove. The guy had his own mixture of spices that went into it. Along with this was pao shaped like two joint fingers, quickly toasted on the hot plate. total time 1 min 15 secs.
Not finding anything else I wandered into a small tea shop. order ' ek cutting' (one shrpish tea) (u can do that in Surat as well, it seems) took a mathi along with it, which was nice and thin and folded 4 times over. Then I had a rusk shaped biscuit which was also good. Total time - 10 mins 9the tea was hot. Cost - 12 bucks. some pics of the tea shop :
Went for a snack-walk near the railway station / bus stand in Surat to sample the local taste.
First stop was the pani puri (gol gappas). Atta (wheat flour) balls with a mixture of potato, black grams (kala chana) some spices and finally the spicy water. The water was not colored as in Delhi but tasted good. Bloody cheap too - for 7 bucks i got 14 of them balls and not heavy at all. I think the mumbai / pune is awesome and better just for the fact that they have the warm chick pea (safed chana) stuffing. Total time a good part of 5 mins.
Second stop, was a omlete pao. A one egg omlete seriously shook-up and put on a hot stove. The guy had his own mixture of spices that went into it. Along with this was pao shaped like two joint fingers, quickly toasted on the hot plate. total time 1 min 15 secs.
Not finding anything else I wandered into a small tea shop. order ' ek cutting' (one shrpish tea) (u can do that in Surat as well, it seems) took a mathi along with it, which was nice and thin and folded 4 times over. Then I had a rusk shaped biscuit which was also good. Total time - 10 mins 9the tea was hot. Cost - 12 bucks. some pics of the tea shop :
Sunday, October 11, 2009
training half marathon
the past week has been nearly no running except one easy run of 45 mins on Thursday.
Saturday was supposed to be a timed run of 10 kn in 1 hr 10 min 57 secs. I of course did not run as I was tired after a lter biz dinner on fri night. SUnday was supposed to be an easy run of 1 hr 45 mins.
I combined both ! So today morn I ran the 10 k at a fast pace and the balance 7 k at a slow pace making up a total of 17 k in 1 hr 47 mins.
But the catch here is the 10 k which I finished in 58.30 mins ! my fastest ever ! that a speed of over 10kmph ! woohoo!
Saturday was supposed to be a timed run of 10 kn in 1 hr 10 min 57 secs. I of course did not run as I was tired after a lter biz dinner on fri night. SUnday was supposed to be an easy run of 1 hr 45 mins.
I combined both ! So today morn I ran the 10 k at a fast pace and the balance 7 k at a slow pace making up a total of 17 k in 1 hr 47 mins.
But the catch here is the 10 k which I finished in 58.30 mins ! my fastest ever ! that a speed of over 10kmph ! woohoo!
Friday, October 2, 2009
it is 2nd october. the celebrated day for peace and war of peace by the peaceful Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
It was on this day 6 years back that my parents collaborated with Sue's parents and against our wishes , without our express knowledge or approval & hatched a plan to get us to meet.
They knew.
They knew the moment we meet our love, lust will errupt and we will be entwined for the rest of our lives. These 6 years have been an awakening of sorts of our natures. A journey of discovery not only of each other but also of ourselves. We continue to learn about ourselves, our strengths, weaknesses.
I cannot thank them both enough for the grand favor & the greatest gift they have given us.
It was on this day 6 years back that my parents collaborated with Sue's parents and against our wishes , without our express knowledge or approval & hatched a plan to get us to meet.
They knew.
They knew the moment we meet our love, lust will errupt and we will be entwined for the rest of our lives. These 6 years have been an awakening of sorts of our natures. A journey of discovery not only of each other but also of ourselves. We continue to learn about ourselves, our strengths, weaknesses.
I cannot thank them both enough for the grand favor & the greatest gift they have given us.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
half marathon training
Nehru Park @ 5.30 AM once again. Target : to run continuously for 90 mins. Personal motive - at least 12 k in those 90 mins.
Target Achieved !! and the feeling at the end of the run, being exhausted, sweat pouring down- exhilarating.
Pep talk from some other runners, who did 18 k in the same time - not required. just the fact that they did 18k in my 12 k time was WoW enough.
Target Achieved !! and the feeling at the end of the run, being exhausted, sweat pouring down- exhilarating.
Pep talk from some other runners, who did 18 k in the same time - not required. just the fact that they did 18k in my 12 k time was WoW enough.
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