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I've just come out of hiding, now that the Mumbai Marathon is finally over. The marathon has, over the years, undergone many changes.For instance, in this year's edition most of the runners were taller. However there is one disturbing trend that we need to address and address quickly if the marathon is to survive...

I speak of the paucity of stars and celebrity participation. Every year the number of celebrities participating becomes lesser. As everybody knows, today stars and mini celebrities have rightly replaced the Taj Mahal and Himalayas as our national monuments.Pick up any newspaper and count the number of times the Himalayas are featured against the list of human celebrities and you know who is top dog in the nation's eyes. Why is celebrity participation dwindling? I've thoroughly researched the subject over the last three seconds and I'd like to provide some suggestions to the promoters of the marathon.

"Dear Sirs, This is just a quick note to reverse the trend of celebrity athletes dwindling.
To encourage our stars to actually run, I suggest the following events be added on. a) The 250 m brisk walk from CST to the BMC building, a quick chai and back. b) The 500 m strolls (cars allowed) to the Bombay Gymkhana from CST (returning optional). I firmly believe that the 21 km and 42 km are killing celebrity enthusiasm. Make-up applied gets severely challenged in a 42 km set-up. Many celebrities don't look the same at the finish.

Hence, the goof-up of Milind Soman being felicitated as Himesh Reshamiya at this year's finish. Please take up the 250 and 500 m events in next year's edition, and save both the marathon as well as our lovely country!
Yours truly, Cyrus.”