Where's Waldo? I'm 1 in 70,000

Today I ran the City2Surf, a 14k run from Hyde Park in downtown Sydney to Bondi Beach. Let's just say the day turned out a little different than I expected...

My friend Mitch and I both signed up for the race so we took the 8 AM bus to the starting line. Unfortunately we were in the “Back of the Pack” section so we had to wait around for about an hour and a half in the cold before we started. For those of you who have seen or run in the Chicago Marathon, this was ten times more chaotic. There were 70,000 runners, making City2Surf the largest chip-timed race in the world. It was absolutely insane! Mitch and I started together, both weaving in and out of people, and running a lot of the race on the sidewalk away from the masses of people walking/jogging. We stayed together for about half of the race until we got to Heartbreak Hill. I have never run a hillier course in my life. Right when you think you’re at the top, another long stretch is waiting to devour you. He took off ahead while I walked the steepest part of the hill.

Once I made it to the top and started running again, I looked out to my left and took in the gorgeous view in the distance of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Oh my gosh, it was so cool. I smiled on the inside the whole rest of the way. And to finish out the race, I saw a beautiful view of Bondi Beach on the downhill coming into the last 2 km. It turned out to be sunny and warm, just perfect. I also reached my goal and finished under 70 minutes at 1:07:41. Sounds like a great day, right? Keep reading…

To make a long story short of the rest of the day…four of my friends came to watch me in the race and they were planning on meeting me in the E-H section of the reunion area. Well, it was hard to find because it was a small area much farther away from the finish line. They were looking for me near the finish while I waited for over an hour in the reunion area. It started to get cold, cloudy, and rainy so I decided to leave and catch the bus back to the city. Well, the line for the bus was about 4,000 people long and I didn’t have anything on me besides my bus pass. As I was waiting I heard the man behind me talking to his wife on the phone. He and his 11 year old son had just run the race and his wife was going to pick them up instead. I asked them if there was a quicker way to Bondi Junction where I could catch a bus back to the city, and they offered to give me a ride. So we walked a ways and then Tony, his son, Rodan, and I all hopped in the car. His wife was really nice and their other 6 year old son named Challum was absolutely adorable with his red hair and cute Australian accent . They dropped me off at a bus near Newtown, and I couldn’t thank them enough. I was so happy to be home after a very long day. And my friends had made it back safe and sound too after their unsuccessful search for me, 1 in 70,000.

All in all, it was quite an experience, but one that I will never forget!