City2Surf

So when I first got here, one of my coworkers was telling me about this 14km (about 9 miles) race called City2Surf.   Basically you start off in the city and run throughout Sydney and finish the race in Bondi, one of Sydney's most famous beaches.  So she got me and this other girl in my office to sign up. I figured, I have done a half marathon - 13 miles, so this shouldn't be too bad.  Plus it sounded like a really cool, fun thing to do in Sydney.  It's a huge event and everyone ends up drinking in Bondi Beach afterwards.

I've been trying to train since I signed up, running in the mornings around my neighborhood.  Since I don't belong to a gym here (they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive here, along with everything else), figured it was a good way to keep in shape.  Didn't quite get to where I wanted to be, which was about 10K, but ran up to 8K.  So Sunday morning, I just hoped for the best.  Took a bus into the city (public transportation was free and I figured why walk 25 minutes when I'd be running for like two hours! Haha..

The place was packed, it was insane! I was in the blue group - runners and joggers. Unfortunately the friends I knew that were running were in the "back of the pack" group which sounded like more fun.

The race was actually not too bad, with all the people out, the adrenaline was going and it was actually quite fun. It was a cool day and had rained a bit early that morning, but stayed dry throughout the day.  The biggest challenge, the thing I was most afraid of was "Heartbreak Hill," this massive, steep hill halfway through the race.

Luckily it wasn't too bad, I ran and walked the hill.  Finished the race in an hour and 39 minutes, but I did lose 10 minutes going to the bathroom. Didn't want to go into a porta potty so I went into this shopping center.  So I reckon my time was actually 1:30.  Haha

Here's a picture of me after, sweaty with my medal and my reward - what this pub called a "lady's beer" flavored with lychee. It was quite yummy!

 The pubs were SUPER DUPER packed. I was surprised to see just how many people were keen to drink at 11am on a Sunday. I thought the Irish could drink, but Aussies put them to shame! Overall a very fun event, will definitely do it next year and will hopefully improve my time (no bathroom breaks!)