I’m pretty much Usain Bolt (and those of you who argue are probably right)
It’s 8:30am, a cool crisp morning in the shade of the tall buildings but a scorcher in the sun. An estimated 80,000 people gathered in and around Hyde Park in Sydney eagerly awaiting the mass of people in front of them to start moving, signalling that the City 2 Surf 2016 had begun.
The smell of too much deodorant hung in the air and the feel of course curly hair rubbing against you from the shoulders of Italian men who were taking full advantage of the one day it is socially acceptable to wear a singlet, aaaahhhhhh bliss!
Mum pulled out her phone for one last selfie with myself and seven of her closest friends who were visiting from the Gold Coast. After I was partially blinded by the flash, the crowd in front of us started to move, runners began flinging their jackets left, right and centre, getting them caught in trees and bushes, as is tradition every year.
As we began shuffling amongst the crowd (literally the fastest you can go at the beginning) a loud beat slowly built. Every year the sponsors of City 2 Surf hire a famous singer to perform at the event, in previous years they have had RedFoo and this year my excitement grew as what sounded like Delta Goodrem was pouring out of the speakers. As we got closer, I saw two tiny little girls in the raised booth and one of mum’s friends yelled out, “IT’S THE VERONICA’S”, I didn’t realise it was 2008 already?
Lisa, another of Mum’s friends ran ahead, we found out later she completed the 14 km course in 86 minuets. Mum and I detached from the group of girls and set off at a very comfortable pace. After hitting an incline, we decided to slow down and gossip instead.
A fantastic element of the event is the dressing up, at the Double Bay mark we had already seen Hari Krishna’s dancing banging their tambourines, an old man wearing a pink tutu who looked like he had come in a group but been separated (making the costume look utterly ridiculous on its own) and my favourite - Mario riding a Dragon and Princess Peach riding a Unicorn (and yes that is me in the background).
The next 10 kilometres flew by in a haze of heat (not running) sweat and lots of laughing at other people. When we finally crossed the finish line in Bondi I was so ready for the traditional celebratory Cider at Ravesis Pub with Mum and the girls. We came in after a speedy 2 and a quarter hours (135 minuets), take that Lisa!!! As always, one cider turns into six and the conversation turns from fun to outrageous with that group, we almost got tattoos and nose rings.
Until next year City 2 Surf.
Kaiya X
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