Some serious quizzing

1) Chetan Bhagat's next book is definitely going to start with a certain word definitely?. Which word ?. Funda pls.

2) Name this tribe who used to work for maratha kings as contract soldiers, who were paid no salary only profit sharing in terms of percentage of plunder in the early 19th century. Clue: The most recent mega epic disaster by Salman Khan is inspired by them.

3) Connect Ajay Mafatlal, Aparna Mafatlal and Altamount road.

4) What sets apart Evonne Goolagong, Margaret court and Kim Clijsters from the rest of the tennis champions

5) Her real name is Avika Gaur, She acts in the serial which has been top ranked over the past year among hindi language programmes and revived the fortunes of the channel. Identify the character and serial.

6) The climax scene of 3 idiots was shot with this very beautiful lake in its background. There is something unique about the water body. Identify. funda pls.

7) Connect Aravinda de silva, Kamal Hassan and Padma Lakshmi. Very workable.

8) Connect a legendary arabic traveller and explorer of medieval times and the very hummable song from upcoming vishal bharadwaj movie.

9) Identify IIM Indore 2007 batchmate whose childhood friend is vidya balan and second cousin is genelia d'souza.

10) Connect baby elephant balancing on log, frog jumping over three frogs and school of fish in a shark formation and chameleon puts out tongue in a flower formation. They all happen, when the tiger is busy behind the woods.

Mumbai Marathon 2010 - results, statistics and analysis

Okie. Okie. Results out. If you want to know how you did or how your friend did, find the link below useful

Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010 Results

I had a bad run this year, injuries galore. 2:38 minutes is poor by my own expectations (thats 2120th position out of 11000). SWACC did 2:42. Shubh and Devam, I need to check. One of my friends from bangalore did 4:55  full marathon( thats 300th position out of 3500)

Check these interesting statistics

Full Marathon Registrations: 3500

Full Marathon Finishers: 686

Full Marathon position at 3 hour mark : 44

Full Marathon position at 4 hour mark : 86
Full Marathon position at 5 hour mark : 360

Half marathon Registrations : 11000

Half marathon Finishers: 6188

Half marathon position at 1.5 hour mark : 35

Half marathon position at 2 hour mark : 268

Half marathon position at 2.5 hour mark : 1330

Half marathon position at 3 hour mark : 3233

Analysis and Results:

1) Only 20% of marathon participants actually completed the race, while 56% of the half marathon participants completed the race.

CONCLUSION : Half marathon is no big deal. So lazy bums out there, get up and start running :)

2) Assuming brisk walking/mild jog speed at 6 kmph, if you are currently a 2 hour half marathoner, with no extra effort you can become a 5 hour full marathoner and still be among the top 300 runners in the country

CONCLUSION : Half marathoners, kindly upgrade!. Running half marathon is no big deal anymore!

3) Even at 3 hour mark for half marathon, which is a typically accepted speed for brisk walking/mild jogging, only 50% of half marathoners had completed the course.

CONCLUSION : Essentially it means, a lot of people need work on their walking first, before even thinking of jogging :)

BOTTOMLINE : Running is great fun, even more so in a group. So get started, enjoy running while your back, spine and neck can hold through. Well before the age of 40, when the fear of lifestyle diseases begin to haunt you.

Eleventh hour preparation - Mumbai Marathon

I, hereby willingly submit myself to the unique human experiment, where in the ability of my body to withstand the gruelling 2 - 3 hour run, more so under circumstances, when I have barely walked 21km, let alone run the entire past month. Marraige beckons, so the entire community expects a well fed = well to do groom, not an athletic built marathon runner. Social compulsions can also lead to obesity.

But while the muscle toning and endurance/rhythm development might be lacking, I have kept up the other part of the preparation going particularly well. i. e nutrition. Over the past month, I have eaten a lot of cheese and pasta. Dry fruits and plenty of milk. This overdose of nutrition without commiserate exercise has built a reserve of adipose tissue that is so beautifully spreading itself across every nook and corner of the body, to ensure the edges turn to contours and contours eventually turn into one bloated blob of fat.

However, disgusted I might be with my putting on weight. I am very confident I will shed them all during the 2 hours on early sunday morning. Running on Bandra - Worli sea link is the most exciting. Also the fact that, I will have the company of many friends and batchmates, ensures I better live up to all expectations. after all, I mostly coaxed them to enroll, even if it meant only for the goodie bag with hazaar freebies.

I dont think I will beat my best time of 1 hour 57 minutes this time around. I willbe happy to thank the almighty if I just manage to completed the course with little tan, reasonable weight loss and no injuries

A few tips from many previous running experiences

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  Eat,Eat and Eat as much as possible on saturday, but stop atleast 6 hours before the start of the run.
  
  
  
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  Carry energy bars with you even if you dont like the taste. You will surely appreciate it and even thank the maker by the time you have crossed the 16 km mark
  
  
  
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  Drink only as much water as you have perspired till then. Also add a little bit of electrolyte. This is to ensure no cramps happen. CRAMPS are reason #1 for marathoners dropping out midway.
  
  
  
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  Run at your most comfortable speed and if possible with a partner with similar running speed. After 16 km, you can barely see the destination. The only reason you run is the other guy next to you is running slightly faster and you need to catch up
  
  
  
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  Dont give up. Even if you run 10 km and walk the remaining 11km, you will still complete within the stipulated 3 hours. So come what may, never give up.