230. The Bridge Run

The day of the Sydney Marathon actually had 4 races organised all beginning from Milson’s Point with staggered starts. There was the marathon, the half marathon, the Bridge run (9km) and the family fun run (4km). Isla was running the half marathon which had the crazily early start time of 6:20am while I didn’t have to be there for the Bridge run until 8:30am.

My plan was to try and drag my 100kg round the 9km in under an hour since the embarrassment that was the City to Surf saw me doing 14km in 1 hour 52 mins that was a dreadful 7.5km per hour. Ok, so I had cramp and had to pee because I drank too much before the race, etc, but this time I had a better idea of what to expect.

At 7:30am I jumped on the train having had one glass of water and a small piece of nougat. I took my time to stretch all my muscles and warm up properly then when the gun went to signal the start of the race I pressed play on the specially put together playlist appropriately named “speed running” and took off.

It was hard. As you know, I’m no runner. However, the route was beautiful and made up for my fitness level (or lack there of). The Harbour Bridge was closed to traffic for the whole morning as the initial section of all 4 races allowed participants the rarity of running over it. It’s a real privilege and something most Australians and Sydney siders alike never get the chance to do. When the 75th Anniversary Bridge Walk took place in March of this year 200,000 people turned up to walk over the historic structure which just goes to show how highly that opportunity is regarded so really this paragraph should have the sub-heading “230a. Walking (Running) over Sydney Harbour Bridge”.

After that the route headed down to towards Woolloomooloo (what a mental name) and then doubled back towards the Opera House where the finish line was. I had no cramps, no blisters, stopped once to grab some water and eat some energy gel, never walked and crossed the finish line in 59mins and 16seconds. I was so chuffed. Really think I’m getting the bug. Not for the running itself but for the thrill of the event and the challenge of reaching a goal. I realise that 9km per hour is slow but compared to the last race I was 1500m ahead of where I would have been a few months ago so a marked improvement.

The next plan is a 10km race in under an hour. We’ll see…