The other event on my to-do list required the willingness to make your way to Hyde park on a clear and chilly Sunday morning, a running gear (superman, wonder girl, NFL player, storm troopers, smurf suits are all perfectly acceptable), great skills to dodge gorillas and prams up heartbreak hill and most importantly the urge and passion to run or walk amongst 80,000 other Sydney-siders! This was the City 2 surf.
After a few years of finding excuses on not to do it, this year I finally decided to run the city2surf. This happened to be the 40yr anniversary of C2S…
Just two weeks after my M7 marathon, this was a ‘C’ grade race. My mind was ready for it, but I knew my body was still recovering from the marathon - Every time I started running I didn’t quite feel 100%. The longest run I did since the marathon was only 7.5 KMs, but I wasn’t too concerned as this was a no pressure race. I was going to give it my best try and if I did feel sore or too tired, I was going to walk it and enjoy the company until I was ready to run again.
If all goes well, my plan was to aim for a sub 75 mins finish.. This was approximately 5:21secs/KM. Considering I averaged 5:20sec/KM for my half marathon on a mostly flat terrain, I thought this would be realistic and obtainable. Having never done it before, I didn’t know what to expect of heartbreak hill but I was hoping I might just make it!
My race plan was simple :
1. Start off easy
2. Maintain a steady pace on flat terrain
3. In uphill sections, keep plodding along but never stop running
4. In downhill sections, Pick up on speed as much as possible
5. If I feel like passing out or need to call an ambulance stop or slow down and remind myself, I’m only doing it for fun and not hoping for a podium finish this time! :)
This is my plan for most races…
I was in the blue group. This wasn’t one of the groups I had to qualify to enter. Only prerequisite for this group was, you had to be able to run all of the distance.
The race officially started at 8.30am but our group only started moving almost 15-20mins later. As expected, the first few KMs were quite busy and packed. It was hard to get into any sort of rhythm – all you could do is, try to avoid tripping on the curb or a bin and try to pass as many runners as possible. My race was all going to plan until around the 6k – the beginning of heartbreak hill. Despite the great distraction from a band playing AC/DC it was evident that it was going to be a slow, gradual climb. I continued to climb at a slow pace but was slowly losing sight of the 75mins goal. I knew the uphill climb was about 2 KMs. I was hoping to catch up on time after the climb but heart break definitely lived up to its name and managed to wear me out enough! – My slowest KM on the course was the 8th KM – It took me 6:48!!
After the Heartbreak Hill, I still managed to push along at a steady pace but didn’t quite have much left to push it any harder and I knew my 75min goal was gone and wasn’t concerned at all at what my goal was going to be. I don’t even recall checking the time on my watch after about 10Ks until Campbell pde in Bondi Beach (about 700ms to go). Elapsed time on my watch was about 78:30. It was only then I decided I really want to make it under 80mins and decided to push myself really hard to the finish line. Time on my watch has 1hr19.38secs (approx. 79.38secs). I am yet waiting for the official time but really hoping my watch was right!...Next year, I’ll qualify to start in the GREEN group – That would be anyone who completed C2S within 75-100mins. Hopefully I can train and make it to the finish line in under 75mins and get a spot in the ‘RED’ group the following year :)
Check out my garmin race summary here..
Overall, it was a great enjoyable run that I’d highly recommend it to ANYONE…
