The Big Sur Marathon is one of the top 10 marathon destinations in the world.
The big run happens along the scenic Highway One, skirting the rugged California coast from Big Sur to Carmel. The slogan used at Big Sur Marathon is “running on the edge of the western world”! It is indeed the case.

A few of us runners at work had decided to participate in this race as a relay team. The race is divided into 5 legs, each having its uniqueness.

Eventually, three of us ran the race. Here is our team “Geeks with Wings” at the carbo load the night before the race.

I ran the first two legs, the least undulating but the longest. My son, Rahul, ran the second leg, which is the hardest, shortest and the most rewarding because of the sights you get to see. Augustus, my ex-colleague, ran the last two legs, with rolling terrain. You can see the details in the topographic map here.

The marathon course is along Highway One, skirting the cliffs along the California coastline. The area is incredibly beautiful and something to soak up.

Big Sur lighthouse

I passed the baton over to Rahul. While he ran, I unwound with the Taiko drummers, whose rhythmic beat could be heard from several miles. Here I am trying my hand at it:

There is a 2 mile uphill run to Hurricane Point, which is hard. Here is Rahul proudly posing at the top.

The course also goes over the legendary Bixby Bridge.

Here are the three of us after completing the run in 4:21:56.

The sights were spectacular, the run rewarding and unforgettable! It was wonderful to have trained and run with friends and with my son. I can see myself coming back here for another energizing run at one of my favourite places in California. The Pacific Coast Highway One! Cheers to the Big Sur International Marathon!!

My spirits were however dampened at the finish line by a very sad new. A very good friend’s 11 year old son, Arya, had died of Leukemia in New York that morning. He was bravely battling this dreadful disease and doing well after a bone marrow transplant. But this did not last long. He was snatched from this world very prematurely. I had run and raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honour of Arya in the previous years.

Today my tears are spent, my body is numb as I think of the sweet little boy I knew and the thought of my friend’s colossal loss saddens me. What do I tell her? How can I console her? Words can do little to express my grief. RIP Arya! I pray that your parents have the strength to overcome their big loss! I dedicate this run to you!

My son, Rahul, has been learning to play the piano with Anna Semyanovskaya since he was seven. Anna has several senior students who will be graduating this fall. All of them have learned piano with her since they were six or seven. She had a special recital for all her senior students. I have seen most of them play since they were little. It was a special evening and a treat to watch all the young adults play, so beautifully! Anna has played a very special role in the lives of all of them. They adore her!

Rahul played a romantic piece by Franz Liszt called “Liebestraum”.

Reflecting on the whole college admission process has left me with more questions. Colleges seem to want leaders.

Who is a leader? If all are leaders, who are the followers?

An excellent clip of a dancing guy summarizes a “Leadership lesson”.

I was at the famed Lawrence Berkeley National Lab yesterday to drive my son Rahul and some of his teammates from Lynbrook High School for the Regional Science Bowl tournament. The event was hosted by the Center for Science and Engineering Education.

The Regional Science Bowl competition test students’ knowledge of astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, earth, computer, and general science. There are are couple of Science Bowl tournaments in the Silicon Valley Bay Area, one at Stanford, Berkeley and another at Lawrence Livermore. This is not a surprise given the concentration of high tech in this area. At this particular event, there were twenty-four teams of students from sixteen high schools.

There were two teams (Team A and Team B) from Lynbrook at the event. The A Team, comprising of Rahul Basu, Timothy Chu, Keegan Mendosa, Tejas Navaratna and Raman Nelakanti, won the trophy in the finals against Albany High School.

LBNL Regional Science Bowl 2010 Champs

The red Lynbrook tshirts with a DNA and “Science is in our genes” was very striking in the crowd.  The back of the shirt has a periodic table with the initials of all the Science club members and it said “We have all the right elements”. The tshirt designs were voted by the science club members. Rahul’s design made it on to the shirt this year.

The Lynbrook B team comprising of Jennifer Chen, Andrew Ma, Alexander, Markus and Troy did very well too and got the third place. They were all first-timers at this event.

Lynbrook-B stood third. In the picture (L->R: Mrs Alanzo,Markus, Andrew, Alexander, Troy, Jennifer,Dr. Rocklin, Susan Brady

The Lynbrook team coaches Dr. Roy Rocklin and Mrs Amanda Alanso were very proud indeed! They have been very supportive of the Science Club and its activities in school.

The Lynbrook team will now join approximately 65 other high school teams from across the country to compete for the title of 2010 DOE National Science Bowl Champions.

Going to Washington DC for the National Science Bowl.

I wish them the very best!

Solaris Cluster 11/09 is launched today. It is wonderful to see yet another release go out on schedule. It is nice to see business partners sending notes reading about it in Yahoo Finance and several other news sites. More details about the product can be read on Oasis.

The team has successfully done three product releases in 2009! In January SC3.2 1/09; in June OHAC 2009.06 and in Dec SC3.2 11/09.

I work with a wonderful set of people and am very proud to be part of this team and to steer it forward.