Looking through some of the interesting things to do in Sydney on the web last week, something caught my eye. A running race. Here in Sydney. August 9th. 70,000 people. Wow.

When I was planning the trip, I had done a quick look through some of the races that are in Australia to see if I was going to be able to attend but didn’t see much. I’m not sure how I missed this one. It’s only the biggest road race in the world.

The City 2 Surf starts at Hyde Park in Sydney CBD and winds it’s way through 14km of streets to end at one of Australia’s most famous sandy playgrounds, Bondi Beach. Many times it’s been ranked as the worlds biggest race and this year is no exception. With 75,000 registered participants it makes the Boston and New York Marathons look tiny. While the runners here aren’t quite the same international calibre as some other races, people jet from all over the world to join in.

I have been running a fair amount lately to be somewhat prepared for the Royal Victoria Half Marathon in October but I know I will be no where near the finish line when the first few cross. Aside from not being able to do 14km in 40 minutes, I will be starting in the Back of the Pack group due to my late registration.

The event is timed using chips on everyones laces so it doesn’t matter where you start, you will still get an accurate time of when you cross the start line till when you cross the finished line. Part of the reason I’m so excited about this race is the number of people that are running it and the start is going to be the most interesting.

The first 20,000 bibs were reserved for those that had a time from the last 2 years. They will be starting at the beginning of the pack. The next 25,000 bibs were for whoever signed up first on the website. The last 30,000 people are lumped into one group and will start nearly 30 minutes after the first group goes. Each group has a particular area they start from so not to interfere with the other groups.

So far all the races I’ve participated in have had around 100-200 people in them. This is going to be a little bit different. I’ve heard the ground shakes when the race starts. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

Wish me luck!

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Bondi Beach

I’m back in Sydney and have almost completed my great loop of eastern Australia. It’s been a fantastic trip so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of it. I haven’t quite gone all the way around seeing as I’m just outside of Central Sydney at Bondi Beach. I’m curious to get back to Manly and downtown Sydney to see what it’s like. I’ve been to a couple places on the trip more than once but this will be the longest time in between visits for any of those places. I spent the first week of my trip in a backpackers in Manly and while I’m definitely not going back to that hostel, I’d like to visit Manly and see how it feels to come back to something familiar.

Already I’ve hit the oceanside paths for a good run in the breeze. The first point I came to heaps of people were snapping off shots of something in the water. Curious, I thought, there’s nothing there. Just then 2 whales breached right in the bay. They aren’t the first whales I’ve seen on the trip but definitely the closest. They came to the surface 2 more times before dropping out of sight.

After only climbing up and down a million stairs the day before I figured I’d be in fine form for a good long run. I managed 11k before the lead weights at the end of my legs slowed to a crawl and I knew it was time to call it quits for the day.

Enjoying a relaxing day near the beach was in order for the next day, perusing through a New Zealand guide book picked up at the hostel book exchange. Note for traveller’s frequenting hostels, check out the book exchanges for guide books and interesting things to read. A lot of the time it’s some German romantic novels but you might get lucky.

The next day I headed out for another run aiming only to do small trip around the close headlands. Apparently small now means 20k. I made it all the way out to South Head and could see North Head and right into Sydney. It was fun to see North Head from the other side. When I first got the car back in May, North Head was the first place I went to get a good view of the city. It was windy as all hell that day for the walk around the cliffs. The weather was a little nicer this time.

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