Racing to spring
This weekend, Sydney got a taste of spring weather as temperatures on Saturday climbed above 25C (pushing 80F). While this week has cooled off again, brought on by strong winds that moved in yesterday, it seems like we've nearly made it through the worst winter has to offer here... which is, of course, not all that bad.
Now, on to some stories from the week:
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While I don't know if I have mentioned it before (aside from back when I first arrived and there were the bush fires), with winter's cooler temperatures and sometimes strong winds, the air in Sydney can sometimes take on a distinctive smokiness. During winter, the Rural Fire Service does "hazard reduction burns" in the forests surrounding the city, mitigating future fire risks through controlled burns. Often, there are dozens of small fires during any given week, and depending which way the winds are blowing, the city can sometimes bear the brunt of the smoke.
Friday was one of those days, with the sky distinctly hazy and the smell of smoke hanging heavy in the air—and even permeating indoors. On my way to the office, I swung by the International Convention Center (ICC) at Darling Harbour to pick up my race package for Sunday's City2Surf run. From the ICC, the Sydney skyline was muted by the haze.
Thankfully, the winds shifted late in the day on Friday, clearing things up for the evening.
Candice came by after work and I cooked up some pad thai for dinner while we caught up from the week. After we had eaten, we walked over to Giant Dwarf for an improv comedy show where three commentators read off news articles from the week and a half-dozen comedians then did skits based upon the news bits.
As always, we had a great night.
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Late in the morning on Saturday, I met up with my friend Simon for brunch in Glebe. After eating, we wandered through the Glebe markets (most suburbs have a large farmers and crafts market each weekend) before meandering through Camperdown and Sydney Uni on our way over to Newtown.
Once in Newtown, we made our way down King Street, the main commercial drag, popping into a few shops along the way. King Street is a pretty typical commercial street, which is like those found in suburbs across the city (and really the country). Lined with two- and three-story buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s, the footpaths are always buzzing with activity thanks to the shops and restaurants along the way.
Buses run past every few minutes on their way into the city or to the train stations which are often found along the main roads (for example, in Newtown, Newtown Station is on King Street). Beyond the shops, many of which have second-floor residential units, residences line the streets, with a mix of row houses and old detached cottages on small lots. The entire arrangement makes each neighbourhood very walkable and fairly integrated with the surrounding suburbs.
But, I digress...
Finally, we went to Camperdown Memorial Park, a large, sloped grassy park surrounded by old homes, and found a shady spot to relax and people watch. It seemed all of Sydney (and their dogs) were out and about, shopping on King Street or enjoying the park. And with the warmest weather the city has felt in months, who could blame them?
We called it an afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day at home taking care of the usual weekend tasks, heading to bed early for the big race day.
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The morning was quite a bit cooler than Saturday, and windy to boot. My starting group lined up on the south side of the starting line. The experience reminded me a lot of the Peachtree Road Race two years ago, though that has nearly two dozen starting waves and fewer participants. City2Surf has only four start waves, with more than 25,000 people in the group I lined up with. Needless to say, when we "started," it was a good five minutes before I was even able to move.
Once on the course—a brief downhill before a climb up to Kings Cross—the crowds were still jammed for the first kilometre or so, making it hard to really start running. Williams Street, the first segment of the race, passes underneath the heart of Kings Cross in two two-lane tunnels. Not knowing any better, I took the right tunnel, which proved to be a bit of a strategic mistake, as the tunnel exit narrowed, causing people to slow down and stop. I ended up following the lead of other runners who didn't want to lose their momentum, vaulting over a concrete barrier and median to the adjacent road leading out of the leftmost tunnel, a few feet up from our exit.
While the crowds never really thinned out, once I found a rhythm in the second kilometre, I didn't have too much of an issue dodging people.
The course takes a circuitous route between the city and the coast, running along the shore of Sydney Harbour via Edgecliff, Double Bay, and Rose Bay. I had never been in some of the suburbs before, and the run was a great way to see some beautiful homes with spectacular views of the harbour. The extreme topography of Sydney was also on full display, highlighted by the 1.6k (1 mile)-long "Heartbreak Hill," which seems to just go up forever.
Overall, the course was tough, with the seemingly endless hills proving tougher than anything I had run to train. Once the race turns south to head toward Bondi, most of the run is downhill toward the beach, which was a very welcome relief. However, the route is a bit cruel, as you actually pass the finish line, head up one final hill, and double back to end the race.
I didn't make it in 70 minutes as I had hoped for (that would be 5:00 per kilometre or 8:00 per mile), but my official time was under 75 minutes at 74:02. I wasn't upset with that, given the course, and I ended up finishing pretty well in the overall standings. The breakdown did show me that I managed to keep the first six kilometres under a 5:00 minute pace, which I was quite happy with considering my exasperatingly slow start.
Once across the finish line, I caught my breath overlooking Bondi Beach, before turning inland and walking the few blocks to visit Amanda and Beck. After all, I don't get out to Bondi much, so this was the perfect chance to see them.
Their renovations are coming along nicely, and we got to catch up for a bit before heading over to a friend's place which opens up to the race course to watch for some people we knew who were running. The wind was quite strong along the coast, and I couldn't last long outside (it's amazing how running keeps you warm, but as soon as you stop it's quite cold!), so we went back to their place and Amanda made me a much appreciated breakfast.
By the time noon rolled around, I had found my way to the buses (which were running a continuous circuit to Bondi Junction, where the train line ends), and had caught a train home to Central. Transport has their race day operations down to a science.
The afternoon was spent relaxing, and in the evening I met my friend Nate (who also ran and ended up beating my time by 29 seconds) for a dinner of dumplings out in Chatswood. We ate until we were ready to burst and decided it wasn't a bad way to recover from the morning.
Running the race was a great experience, and I am glad I did it. We'll see if I do it again next year.
Now, on to some stories from the week:
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Hazy hazard reduction
Last Friday I had the pleasure of spending most of the day out of office after meeting a Thursday evening deadline. I spent the morning reading at home before venturing up into the city to grab a laptop from the office for work this week.While I don't know if I have mentioned it before (aside from back when I first arrived and there were the bush fires), with winter's cooler temperatures and sometimes strong winds, the air in Sydney can sometimes take on a distinctive smokiness. During winter, the Rural Fire Service does "hazard reduction burns" in the forests surrounding the city, mitigating future fire risks through controlled burns. Often, there are dozens of small fires during any given week, and depending which way the winds are blowing, the city can sometimes bear the brunt of the smoke.
Friday was one of those days, with the sky distinctly hazy and the smell of smoke hanging heavy in the air—and even permeating indoors. On my way to the office, I swung by the International Convention Center (ICC) at Darling Harbour to pick up my race package for Sunday's City2Surf run. From the ICC, the Sydney skyline was muted by the haze.
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| Haze dulls the skies around Darling Harbour. |
Thankfully, the winds shifted late in the day on Friday, clearing things up for the evening.
Candice came by after work and I cooked up some pad thai for dinner while we caught up from the week. After we had eaten, we walked over to Giant Dwarf for an improv comedy show where three commentators read off news articles from the week and a half-dozen comedians then did skits based upon the news bits.
As always, we had a great night.
________________________________
A sunny Saturday, and a bit about "suburb" life
With the City2Surf race on Sunday, I purposefully didn't make plans for the weekend so I could lay low before the run.Late in the morning on Saturday, I met up with my friend Simon for brunch in Glebe. After eating, we wandered through the Glebe markets (most suburbs have a large farmers and crafts market each weekend) before meandering through Camperdown and Sydney Uni on our way over to Newtown.
Once in Newtown, we made our way down King Street, the main commercial drag, popping into a few shops along the way. King Street is a pretty typical commercial street, which is like those found in suburbs across the city (and really the country). Lined with two- and three-story buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s, the footpaths are always buzzing with activity thanks to the shops and restaurants along the way.
Buses run past every few minutes on their way into the city or to the train stations which are often found along the main roads (for example, in Newtown, Newtown Station is on King Street). Beyond the shops, many of which have second-floor residential units, residences line the streets, with a mix of row houses and old detached cottages on small lots. The entire arrangement makes each neighbourhood very walkable and fairly integrated with the surrounding suburbs.
 |
| Wandering down King Street in Newtown. |
Finally, we went to Camperdown Memorial Park, a large, sloped grassy park surrounded by old homes, and found a shady spot to relax and people watch. It seemed all of Sydney (and their dogs) were out and about, shopping on King Street or enjoying the park. And with the warmest weather the city has felt in months, who could blame them?
We called it an afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day at home taking care of the usual weekend tasks, heading to bed early for the big race day.
________________________________
The world's largest race
Sunday morning I was up at 7:30 and out of the house by 8:00 for the quick walk up to Hyde Park to the start of the annual City2Surf race. A 14km (8.5 mile) run from the edge of the CBD to arguably Sydney's most famous shoreline, Bondi Beach, the event takes place annually on the second Sunday in August. With more than 80,000 participants, the race is the largest in the world. |
| Lined up with my start group with Hyde Park to the left—people as far as the eye can see. |
The morning was quite a bit cooler than Saturday, and windy to boot. My starting group lined up on the south side of the starting line. The experience reminded me a lot of the Peachtree Road Race two years ago, though that has nearly two dozen starting waves and fewer participants. City2Surf has only four start waves, with more than 25,000 people in the group I lined up with. Needless to say, when we "started," it was a good five minutes before I was even able to move.
 |
| Despite the width of Williams Street, the beginning of the course was still hard to navigate. |
Once on the course—a brief downhill before a climb up to Kings Cross—the crowds were still jammed for the first kilometre or so, making it hard to really start running. Williams Street, the first segment of the race, passes underneath the heart of Kings Cross in two two-lane tunnels. Not knowing any better, I took the right tunnel, which proved to be a bit of a strategic mistake, as the tunnel exit narrowed, causing people to slow down and stop. I ended up following the lead of other runners who didn't want to lose their momentum, vaulting over a concrete barrier and median to the adjacent road leading out of the leftmost tunnel, a few feet up from our exit.
While the crowds never really thinned out, once I found a rhythm in the second kilometre, I didn't have too much of an issue dodging people.
The course takes a circuitous route between the city and the coast, running along the shore of Sydney Harbour via Edgecliff, Double Bay, and Rose Bay. I had never been in some of the suburbs before, and the run was a great way to see some beautiful homes with spectacular views of the harbour. The extreme topography of Sydney was also on full display, highlighted by the 1.6k (1 mile)-long "Heartbreak Hill," which seems to just go up forever.
 |
| The route of the race, tracked by my Fitbit, with a few labels for context: "WORK" is in the CBD. |
Overall, the course was tough, with the seemingly endless hills proving tougher than anything I had run to train. Once the race turns south to head toward Bondi, most of the run is downhill toward the beach, which was a very welcome relief. However, the route is a bit cruel, as you actually pass the finish line, head up one final hill, and double back to end the race.
I didn't make it in 70 minutes as I had hoped for (that would be 5:00 per kilometre or 8:00 per mile), but my official time was under 75 minutes at 74:02. I wasn't upset with that, given the course, and I ended up finishing pretty well in the overall standings. The breakdown did show me that I managed to keep the first six kilometres under a 5:00 minute pace, which I was quite happy with considering my exasperatingly slow start.
 |
| My final time information—I was a bit worse off after Heartbreak Hill. |
Once across the finish line, I caught my breath overlooking Bondi Beach, before turning inland and walking the few blocks to visit Amanda and Beck. After all, I don't get out to Bondi much, so this was the perfect chance to see them.
 |
| Bondi Beach. |
Their renovations are coming along nicely, and we got to catch up for a bit before heading over to a friend's place which opens up to the race course to watch for some people we knew who were running. The wind was quite strong along the coast, and I couldn't last long outside (it's amazing how running keeps you warm, but as soon as you stop it's quite cold!), so we went back to their place and Amanda made me a much appreciated breakfast.
 |
| Watching runners climb the final small hill, and descend down toward the beach and finish line (behind). |
By the time noon rolled around, I had found my way to the buses (which were running a continuous circuit to Bondi Junction, where the train line ends), and had caught a train home to Central. Transport has their race day operations down to a science.
The afternoon was spent relaxing, and in the evening I met my friend Nate (who also ran and ended up beating my time by 29 seconds) for a dinner of dumplings out in Chatswood. We ate until we were ready to burst and decided it wasn't a bad way to recover from the morning.
Running the race was a great experience, and I am glad I did it. We'll see if I do it again next year.
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