Lulu has just asked "where's the C2S report?" – the greatest 'fun run' in Australia was held last Sunday. It was my 24th City to Surf. I was just a boy of 23 when I ran my first in 1980. Now, I'm just a boy of 50.
Travelling back on the bus to Canberra with the cross country club group, Trev asked if I was happy with my run. I said I was very happy. I'd run 14k from central Sydney to Bondi Beach, with 64,000 friends, over a few hills, feeling pretty good the whole way. I'd run 69:16 (although my place card said 69:37), 4 minutes quicker than last year, and fast enough to stay in the A1 group for 2008. At the beginning of the year I'd set a goal of 62 minutes, but that was never going to happen. I'm starting to see some signs that Hadd training is working, but it's a long process. Maybe next year I'll approach that 62-minute goal.
This year, race day started at 2.45am. I met a mate for the drive into Canberra to catch the bus at 4.30am. We arrived in Hyde Park, Sydney, a bit over 3 hours later. I jogged over to The Domain, our usual meeting place and warm-up spot. I bumped into legend Keith Mayhew, who has finished every City to Surf since 1971. After warming up, I joined my fellow sub-75 minute runners in the A1 coral, 30 minutes before the start, and passed the time chatting to Adam from Speedygeoff's group.
Our start was surprisingly good – losing only 5 to 10 seconds crossing the line, and being able to run quick enough to pass 3km (actually 2.86k according to Forerunner Man), in 13:38. I really enjoyed that flat section through Rose Bay, 5k in 23:56, before changing down a gear or two for the plod up Heartbreak. I caught up to Aki near the top, after following her ponytail for quite a while. She wasn't having a good day. The clock at 7k said 35:53, so something under 70 minutes was on, as the second half, with all the downhill, is about 2 minutes quicker.
I felt really good running the flat/undulating bit (10k in 50:44), and continued to do so on the downhill, and the seemingly endless run to the finish. A highlight was seeing the CR cheersquad, doing a great job, near the bottom of the hill. I spotted Jen_runs, Tiger Angel, Don Juan (having a cow of a time) and a number of other CRs. The final 300 metres down Queen Elizabeth Drive is always a buzz. I refrained from sprinting, wary of creaky calves and such.
All in all, it was a brilliant day! I love this race. Sorry I wasn't able to catch up with many people afterwards. I might see you in Sydney for the Harbour Bridge run or at the MCG for the Melbourne Half.
Travelling back on the bus to Canberra with the cross country club group, Trev asked if I was happy with my run. I said I was very happy. I'd run 14k from central Sydney to Bondi Beach, with 64,000 friends, over a few hills, feeling pretty good the whole way. I'd run 69:16 (although my place card said 69:37), 4 minutes quicker than last year, and fast enough to stay in the A1 group for 2008. At the beginning of the year I'd set a goal of 62 minutes, but that was never going to happen. I'm starting to see some signs that Hadd training is working, but it's a long process. Maybe next year I'll approach that 62-minute goal.
This year, race day started at 2.45am. I met a mate for the drive into Canberra to catch the bus at 4.30am. We arrived in Hyde Park, Sydney, a bit over 3 hours later. I jogged over to The Domain, our usual meeting place and warm-up spot. I bumped into legend Keith Mayhew, who has finished every City to Surf since 1971. After warming up, I joined my fellow sub-75 minute runners in the A1 coral, 30 minutes before the start, and passed the time chatting to Adam from Speedygeoff's group.
Our start was surprisingly good – losing only 5 to 10 seconds crossing the line, and being able to run quick enough to pass 3km (actually 2.86k according to Forerunner Man), in 13:38. I really enjoyed that flat section through Rose Bay, 5k in 23:56, before changing down a gear or two for the plod up Heartbreak. I caught up to Aki near the top, after following her ponytail for quite a while. She wasn't having a good day. The clock at 7k said 35:53, so something under 70 minutes was on, as the second half, with all the downhill, is about 2 minutes quicker.
I felt really good running the flat/undulating bit (10k in 50:44), and continued to do so on the downhill, and the seemingly endless run to the finish. A highlight was seeing the CR cheersquad, doing a great job, near the bottom of the hill. I spotted Jen_runs, Tiger Angel, Don Juan (having a cow of a time) and a number of other CRs. The final 300 metres down Queen Elizabeth Drive is always a buzz. I refrained from sprinting, wary of creaky calves and such.
All in all, it was a brilliant day! I love this race. Sorry I wasn't able to catch up with many people afterwards. I might see you in Sydney for the Harbour Bridge run or at the MCG for the Melbourne Half.
| Year | Time | Place |
| 1980 | 65:56 | 3,431 |
| 1981 | DNS | Knee injury |
| 1982 | DNS | Motorcycle trip |
| 1983 | 58:49 | 1,310 |
| 1984 | 56:49 | 879 |
| 1985 | 54:42 | 685 |
| 1986 | 54:18 | 669 |
| 1987 | 54:21 | 819 |
| 1988 | 53:33 | 590 |
| 1989 | 57:15 | 1,076 |
| 1990 | 55:21 | 764 |
| 1991 | 55:50 | 979 |
| 1992 | 55:54 | 833 |
| 1993 | DNS | Motorcycle accident |
| 1994 | 86:52 | 14,607 |
| 1995 | 55:48 | 697 |
| 1996 | 58:13 | 1,061 |
| 1997 | 55:36 | 628 |
| 1998 | DNS | Trip to US/Canada |
| 1999 | 64:46 | 2,403 |
| 2000 | 57:54 | 700 |
| 2001 | 61:07 | 1,285 |
| 2002 | 63:08 | 1,445 |
| 2003 | 63:15 | 1,805 |
| 2004 | 63:12 | 1,768 |
| 2005 | 66:35 | 3,210 |
| 2006 | 73:20 | 6,058 |
| 2007 | 69:37 | 3,340 |
22 comments:
Great seeing you out there Ewen!
I have duely? saved your advice and i will be writing a plan that will attempt to cover it.
Cheers R2B
Congrats Ewen, a lot faster than 2006! :-)
splain 1993, harley boy.
Hey Ewen, I was one of the "number of other CRS's" you cheeky bugger lol
Great run and improvement on last year as well, you are doing something right.
Bloody long day though
Great to see you out there mate. That's quite a C2S record you've got there !
A great record of runs Ewen. I've just worked out my goal for next year 53:32.Usual bet, one Cap? I was working at Avis up near the tunnel in 88 and saw the start as it came up the hill. I probably saw the Ewen flash as it went past chasing Action. See you at Sydney, but I'm doing the full marathon for the first time.
That is a pretty impressive list there Ewen, Congrats on improving your time on last yaers results. Lets hope that your training gets your times down to the 62 goal for next year.
Very impressive record..and a nice race report too.
it was great to see you Ewen. that sure is an impressive list of times there and still more to come.
Congrats Ewen, looking forward to catching up with you in Melbourne.
Did I read your entry correctly, a 2.45 am start, that's night-shift.....
Well done, Ewen.
That was a tough day, and you nailed a good time.
Cheers,
Ben
Holy crap, there are some fast times there!!!!
Pity we didn't get to catch up. See you at the MCG if not before.
fantastic report mate, and fantastic to see you, albeit briefly, after the race. Wish I could one day post a 24-race record table like that :)
Nice race. It must be great to have 64000 close personal friends.
Great race report there.
Nice run, thats some record over the years. It sounds pretty well organised for a fun run with starting corals and all. Thats a far cry from our anuual fun run in Akl. Round the Bays gets over 60000 runners every year also but basically apart from a few elites who get to start right on the start line, its every man (& woman) for themselves.
Congratulations & great race report!
home fitness
That's a mighty fine C2S record there Ewen. That was a huge improvement on last year. So it looks as though the training is working for you.
That's a great report. I'm glad you had such a nice day :) I can't believe you were up that early!! What a looong day. I'm tired just thinking about it. Phew!
A good solid run Ewen. Looks like you certainly enjoyed it. HADD appears to be taking you in the right direction - perhaps not at the pace you anticipated.
How do you run with 64,000 ohters and cross the start line within 10 seconds of the gun. - were there multiple starts?
Nice work Ewen - I've only done one '83 or '84 - too many people and not enough hills for me :-)
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