Race Report - Harbour Bridge Run (9k), 17 September 2006

 

Bright sunshine, a slight breeze, and a twenty-five-minute queue for the porta-potties (I knew I shouldn't have had that coffee before we got on the train).  I just knew it was going to be a good day!  As my last race for the season, I had high hopes of pulling a really good run, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.  Even after the less-than-helpful couple of days prior to the race.

 

Visiting Sydney as tourists for the first time, my housemate Kylie and I spent two glorious days trekking, shopping and eating our way around Sydney city, doing all the cheesy tourist things like bus tours and photographs in front of the Opera House.  I'm somewhat surprised that after so much walking (we must have covered at least 20-30km in two days) my legs were still functional.  Highlights included the Lindt Chocolate Cafe (as a self-confessed chocoholic, how could this not be top of the list?), the Opera House and the completely unexpected find of a demonstration of people making rock candy (with free samples).  Oh, and an awesome strawberry dacquiri on Friday night.  Plus some damn good shopping of course!  And still, after squeezing as much as we could into two days, we were rolling out of bed at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, ready to run out hearts out in the Harbour Bridge 9k Fun-Run.

 

Aside for the aforementioned porta-potty frustration, the race itself was fantastic.  The course ran across the Harbour Bridge, through the city and around the harbour, then came to a scenic finish at the Opera House forecourt.  It was a gorgeous run, and had I not been concentrating painfully on running as hard as I could, I may have actually enjoyed the views.  It was a very fast course, with only a few uphill stretches, and lots of downhill.  I must have gone a bit heavy on the uphill training (thanks to the Story and Goodwill Bridges at home), as I was passing people left, right and center as I powered up the hills, but then being overtaken on the downhills.  Oh well, something to work on for next year.  The last km or so coming down to the finish was all downhill (at this point, I was worshipping the course planners), so we were able to really pick up the pace.   My adoration of the race organisers turned to abject hatred, however, when I realised the archway I had thought was the finish line, and so sprinted for, as actually just a red herring, and the real finish was another 500m on.  At least I wasn't alone in that error, as most of the other people around me seemed to have made the same assumption.  Oops!  At least it pushed me to a time I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

 

I was originally quite disappointed with my clock time of 56:48.  A 56min finish was predicted, based on my training times, so a 55min goal seemed perfectly attainable.  Needless to say, 56:48 was quite a bit slower than my goal!  I was ecstatic however, when the results were posted on the website and my net time (actual time taken from start-line to finish-line) was 52:23!  Woohoo!  Blew my goal out of the water.  Plus, Kylie was aiming for anything under 60 minutes, and managed to bring it home in about 58min, so we were both rather impressed with ourselves.  

 

And so, the flight home on Sunday night ended both our weekend holiday in Sydney and my racing season for the year, and what a finish it was.  With my next race not until April next year, I've got many months of basic grind training ahead of me, though I'm looking at working some more variety in.  Cross training, a bit more strength training, some trail running...  Whatever it takes to get me through with a goal so far away.  Bring on April! 

There have been plenty of humorous definitions of a "real runner" bandied about, like buying shoes based on in-built technology rather than style, being able to say the word "fartlek" without giggling like a schoolgirl, and having the ability to debate the pro's and con's of different brands of GU.  However, in this case, "You know you're a runner when...  You travel interstate for the express purpose of participating in a major race".  Now, most people tend to drop their jaws in abject disbelief when I mention I'm flying to Sydney to compete in the Sydney Running Festival ("How is that possibly fun?" they ask), but to other runners, its not only completely understandable but its actually commonplace.  Laypeople consider running to be a solitary sport, but anyone that has been in a race knows that its anything but.  In a sense, yes, you run alone, but you're surrounded by other people with similar goals and purposes, and there is a pervasive atmosphere of camaraderie and fellowship.  A race is exciting, its uplifting, and there's something about being one amongst thousands all striving for the same thing, the finish, that motivates you like nothing else can.  As for travelling interstate for a race, well, it all comes down to uniqueness.  Crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge?  Yawn, boring, anyone can do that.  But how many people can say that they've run it?  Not many, I assure you!  I will be considering myself one of privileged few that can make that claim to fame.

 

Running is an addiction people won't be able to understand unless they've experienced it themselves.  We runners tend to be looked upon with bewilderment, sometimes scorn, and often more than a little awe.  "You run how far?" they ask, with a look of shock.  Many people can't comprehend covering more than a kilometre walking, let alone running.  But to us, its a normal, everyday part of our lives, much like watching television or cooking a meal.  Its just something we do. 

 

And so, Friday morning my housemate Kylie and myself will be hopping aboard a plane, doing a couple of days of sightseeing around Sydney, then strapping on the running shoes early Sunday morning to join several thousand other people storming across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The race course winds through Sydney and around the harbour, and ends at the Opera House itself for the ultimate scenic finish.  With everything else going on in my life at the moment it did take a while to sink in that it was really happening, but the excitement is really starting to build for me now.  It will be my last race of the year, topping off the Gold Coast 10k and Bridge to Brisbane, so I have high hopes of it going well.  With all the health issues I've been struggling against lately, I really feel like I have something to prove to myself.   Stay tuned for photos!