A year ago I did a post about City2Surf, The World’s Biggest Fun Run, Probably. This event has been held in Sydney every year since 1971, so yesterday was the 45th run.
What’s it like to actually take part in this event though?
I don’t know, I’ve never done it, but I know five girls who have. My wife, my daughter, our friend Stacey and her two daughters Millie and Jasmine.
That’s them smiling at the beginning of this fun run which you don’t have to run at all, you can take as long as you like. That’s exactly what our girls did, and for good reason which I’ll come to in a while. Of course, throughout the 14 km journey they had their iPhones and therefore cameras.
Here are the photo highlights of their walk.
The walk
For some, the term ‘fun run’ is an oxymoron, but when the journey takes you from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach AND you can walk, the two words work together well.
Ah, this has got to be about half way, anybody fancy and ice cream?
Back to the walk…
Rose Bay Police Station may be just about one of the cutest police stations you’ve seen, and as a special offer for today, the police threw in some entertainment for the people…
If the police can have a band though, so can the army…
Plenty of harbour views along the way to enjoy as well…
Before approaching Bondi Beach…
Then the finish…
A great effort by all the girls, if they could have managed to trim just five hours off their time, they would have won this year’s race.
As I mentioned earlier though, they did take their time, and here is that very good reason.
Firstly, Jasmine, age 10 and the youngest of the three girls, she was ill on arrival. Jasmine had been recovering from a heavy cold and was on antibiotics. Then on the Saturday before the fun run, the other two girls, Elizabeth and Millie, got food poisoning. We can thank the worlds biggest fast food chain for that one, maybe they should have stuck to running that old farm instead of moving into the burger market.
With one girl coughing and two girls vomiting throughout the night, nobody got much sleep before the day of the fun run. With all five girls staying in one room in a hostel, they were all in it together. Jasmine’s antibiotics were being kept in the communal fridge by hostel staff, so when Mrs Bob asked for two sick buckets on top, the very helpful receptionist wondered if the hospital may have been a better place for them to stay.
A fair point.
To say this took the fun out of the weekend would be a massive understatement. Proud to say all the girls finished the fun run though, even those who had to put up with constant stomach cramps. As usual, City2Surf ended with a bit of a party on Bondi Beach…
As you have probably worked out for yourselves, I didn’t go, I stayed here in Brisbane. My weekend was much quieter. I mowed the lawn. I did a little bit of shopping. I didn’t eat any Macdonald’s, I wasn’t ill at all, not even once, and I watched the opening games of the English Premier League on TV.
And I slept very well.
My thanks to all the girls for the photographs.
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