What a day – I started on Miller Street in North Sydney. I ran up and down the hills, waved to the crowds, sang with the bands, and spoke with fellow runners. I wanted to have another good race like Boston, a solid well-planned effort. I finished in 3:23 on the plaza at the Opera House. That’s a good day!
The course was a technical challenge and the conditions were so good for a fair chance at getting a good result. I woke up early enough to jog a mile before getting on the Sydney Metro which took me to that start area in North Sydney. I ate half of the Flycarb portion made into a slurry like mix. I had been drinking SIS Beta Fuel powder mix all night whenever I woke up during the night. I wanted to start all carbed up, this worked well in Boston so I repeated it. I had a disposable bottle of Maurten 160 to carry in the beginning of the race plus another bottle of a salty hydration mix to drink until the race began.
The weather looked really good and felt nice on my test run outside of my hotel. I saw younger guys & girls leaving a nightclub down near the Sydney Boulevard Hotel, yes it was still Saturday night for them. I had a small amount of sweat in my underarms when I returned to my room, but it wasn’t anything near what I trained in for heat or humidity. I used the restroom in my hotel, took a small bag to carry with two fluid bottles, and went to the King’s Cross train station. I found more folks finishing their Saturday night, they were standing around outside of the Happy Jacks. I was glad no one was “hooligan drunk” and looking to bother me or the few other participants heading past them for the train station. A few days ago we had done this train route before, which was good and helped make the early start easier to manage. The trains weren’t crowded yet, but many runners were up and out already making the trip to the start.
I met a girl from the UK on the train, she was using this race as part of her training for the Chicago Marathon. That’s where she looked to race all-out for a new PR. We were both in the same Green assembly zone and both in Start Wave #1. We walked from the Crow’s Nest train station to the collective start area on Miller St, a place I ran to Thursday morning to see before the race. My friends would be starting at 8:00 am from the same spot, there’d be 40,000 runners rolling towards the city from a two lane suburban road. The UK lady and I each went to porta potties but I didn’t find her again when I came out. The staging area lawn was wet, but I found a dry spot of grass next to a permanent structure in the park. I sat next to a large guy who was doing plenty of stretches prior to his race. Picture many stretches. And deep holds at the end of each one. A bit too intense for most runners I remember thinking! Another guy on the other side of me sat wrapped in a previous event’s mylar blanket. He was FaceTiming someone and having a chat before his race. When that was over, he left even as the race staging in the corrals on the road hadn’t yet opened. Another woman came and sat next to me, wisely choosing that same dry spot of grass that came with something to lean up against. She was from Denver, a first time visitor to Australia, so we chatted for awhile in the dark about the course and the upcoming start.
The large screens showed race officials, the event’s logos, then introduced the wheelchair athletes. They were first to start, with the flashes of flames and a boisterous DJ playing high BPM tunes. Next was an introduction of the pro men and women, they made there way onto the road and we watched them start on the large screens. It was our turn to get into the corral, I was in group F so there were a good amount of runners in the first start wave that ran ahead of me. I kept the blue puffer coat and long pants on as long as I could. It wasn’t terribly cold out, but standing and sitting around had me glad I brought that instead of just a long sleeve shirt. I ate a SIS beta Fuel gel right before we ran, a good habit to keep!
The start is similar to Boston in that it’s a few meters on flat streets then it dips into downhill in a hurry, like less than 3/4 of a mile into the run. We ran in good morning lighting, the sunrise had already happened and my start was maybe 25 minutes later. My first mile was right at 8 minute pace. That would be the only one of those I’d have in today’s race. We made a slight left turn on Pacific Ave, the road got wider and again headed downhill. In a short distance, we headed on the slow climb up the Harbour Bridge. It’s at about Mile 2 when you’re over the top and heading down. I ran on the right side of the road, I think most runners wanted to be on the left side where they could look over the east side and see the Opera House. I had done that already on Thursday morning’s test run. Coming down the bridge I kept my pace easy and in control as we headed towards Darling Harbour.
Doing plenty of walking around and sightseeing before the race helped me see where I was going to run in the city areas. I did a bus tour on Friday with a man very familiar with the course, that was also a great decision. I knew where certain buildings and landmarks were, this is important to me. Darling Harbour showed us our first group of fams in a cheer zone, some music and the aid stations which began at 5km. Less than 30 mins in, I took another gel.
The course wraps back out of Darling Harbour and into the Barangaroo area, that was flat and had more people spectating and music stands. We went under the Harbour Bridge after 10km and onto George St and through The Rocks area. What was many tables and umbrellas just a day before now had clear roads on both sides to run on. That put us into the CBD section of the course, notable with blue Sydney marathon carpets covering the light rail tracks downtown. A highlight was the Adult Glee Club, over 150 people singing on the steps of a large building. “Eye of the Tiger” is what I heard when I passed by. Later on after the race I saw many online clips of other great high energy tunes for the athletes. So very cool! We did a few zig zag style turns among the tall buildings, then headed onto familiar MacQuarie Street which was a gradual and long climb. We walked this road a bunch of times to get around town in the days before the race. So I was familiar with “what was where” in this area.
There’s an important turn left onto Oxford Street that brings two elements into play for runners. First, Oxford Street and Flinders Ave are the longest sustained climbs on the course, all between 14km and 17 km. It’s also the Pride LGBTQ zone which meant great music and lively outfits. I took a Maurten caffiene gel on this section and told myself to remember this hill. I did it will fresh legs since I didn’t start out too fast on the opening downhill sections. The important thought was – this was going to be very welcomed as I ran back into the downtown section late in the race!
So many people were out cheering now, it was almost 8:00 am. I thought about my friends that were probably just starting back in North Sydney. I was happy to be on the loooong stretch segment of ANZAC Parade. The race’s leading runners passed us on the other side of the road, they were heading back towards the city already. I looked to see what pace groups I could find running on that side, the first one I saw was the 2:40 group. Wow! and they had runners along with them! That gave me a good gauge as to how far out I had to run before I got to spin around. I saw the 3 hour pacers, the 3:15 pace groups, 3:20 groups, and knew I was getting close. The wide ANZAC Parade road led us to a short right turn and quick out-n-back on another very nicely shaded road that felt air conditioned. We went back on ANZAC Parade and continued heading south, past the 21km halfway point and probably to 23kms before we turned around. Now it was our turn to run back next to the outward bound runners. Another SIS Beta gel was still easy to take as I ran in the shade of all the buildings on the east side of the road. I drank only water at all of the aid stations after tossing my empty Maurten 160 carry bottle. (That was empty before Mile 10) It wasn’t getting hot out, but the sun was warming the course now. My friends would likely not have shade to enjoy when they got here I figured.
The course now entered the Centennial Park area, complete with the sports stadiums and equestrian areas. A few signs mentioned the “Allianz Arena” as being 16,000kms ahead, referencing the goof up with this race’s finisher medal artwork. One gal came out to run a short bit with her friend, then let her go. I saw her rejoin her friend briefly as we completed the Centennial Park loop, she wished her good luck and got back into the cheering crowd. It was very noticeable that the Sydney folks really enjoyed being out here supporting the runners. There were so many good cheer sections and well organized runner friendly experiences!
On the way out of Centennial Park we passed the arenas and ran back onto ANZAC Parade. Now I could see the taller downtown buildings ahead and knew I was doing well, with no cramping or stomach issues. The 30km marker passed in Centennial Park. 35km passed next and I was still feeling good. Now back on Flinders St and Oxford Ave, the crowds were bigger and louder. Drag queens wandered around in the road cheering and great music was playing through the Pride section. I ran confident and well on this downhill section, putting in my fastest mile of the day at 6:54 pace. Once I ran right back on familiar roads next to the Cook pool and St Mary’s church, I was happy to be this close at 38 and 39kms.
I came through the green park that holds the Art Museum and roads I’d run just the morning before. The big warning was that at 40kms, the climb back up from the harbor and Mrs MacQuarie’s Chair was tough. It didn’t seem rough to me, the fact that I was 25 miles into a marathon did! I came up that section well, passed a bunch of people that were walking, and got back up to St Mary’s church. All that was left was a flat section starting at Hyde Park, along the government buildings on MacQuarie Street then downhill all the way to the Opera House finish. I ran to the big columned Library Building and took the downhill under the orange HubSpot pedestrian bridge. There’s less than 400 m to go I thought, don’t look at your watch, concentrate and finish this race! I felt a little queasy and ran onto the plaza flat section and through the finish line.
I felt nauseous right when I stopped running. A volunteer hhelped by giving me a small blue bag should I need that, thankfully I didn’t. It was sunny, maybe 64 degrees, and I was done in 3:23:39.
Folks spoke online about the walk to get out of the runner’s finish area. Yes it’s true, you can’t just walk away from the Opera House and go places. But I was happy getting a medal, a food bag, two bottles of chocolate milk and time to be in the sun and finished running.
I went directly to Tracksmith, arriving at 11:30 am. They didn’t open the store until 12 noon. I saw the girl from the UK waiting in line ahead of me – she happily reported getting a new PR of 3:28 in the race she “wasn’t trying for” anything special. I met a few guys that ran under 3 hours, every one had completed all 8 World Marathon majors. The fastest guy I saw and waved congratulation to was a young Japanese guy that posed with his poster for his girlfriend or wife to take his photo. His finishing time was 2:14:xx – good enough to finish in the Top 40.
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