By: Yvonne Mery
Edited by H.Piel
Event Name: TCS Sydney Marathon (Candidate Race)
Date: September 15, 2024
Location: Sydney, Australia
Synopsis: Finishing at the Sydney Opera House was epic!
Briefly describe the overall venue & course:
The expo is well located and organized with an adequate number of vendors. The Sydney marathon is point to point, with hills and a few out and backs. The race starts on the north side of Sydney, at 2km you run over the Harbour bridge and throughout the course you run by many other landmarks and finishing at the iconic Sydney Opera House. There were 20,284 finishers which is a huge increase from 2022.
What was provided at the aid stations?
Water and Fixx Nutrition Drink (Australian’s version of Gatorade) every 5km, water stations approximately every 3km. Gu Gels at 20km and 30km. Porta potties were available throughout the course
How was the weather?
The start was sunny and a little chilly at 8 degrees, feeling like 2 degrees Celsius. Winds were 20km/h and gusting much faster than this! It warmed up slightly and clouded over as the morning progressed. Overall the temperature was great for racing in shorts, singlet, arm warmers, gloves, cap and sunglasses.
My Race Experience:
I was fortunate enough to be invited to run in the Abbott World Age Group Championship in Sydney this year! I wasn’t sure at first if I would go given that it is so far away. You only live once and even if I live a long life, running might not be always an option, so I went for it.
We arrived in Sydney on the Wednesday before the race, this gave us enough time to adjust to the time difference and recuperate from the long flight.
On Thursday Mike, Pat, and I went to the race expo. A few of my favorite vendors (Features, Goodr, Asics, etc.) were there, so I purchased a couple “souvenirs” here.
Friday night there was a Harbour cruise which was included in the Age Group Championship, this was a great way to meet other runners from all over the world and the views of Sydney at sunset were amazing.
Saturday morning we met the other Age Group Championship runners at the steps of the Sydney Opera House for a group photo. Afterwards Mike and I decided to take the metro to the start area in order to know what to expect on race morning. At 4:50pm it was time to put our running kits together. @*#% where was my bib? It was nowhere to be found. We searched the hotel room from top to bottom many times, still no bib! We decided to go to the race expo knowing it had closed at 4:30pm, maybe someone found it and returned it? Unfortunately no such luck. I might add that I was not exactly calm at this moment, I was freaking out! Thoughts of not being allowed to run kept going through my head. I tried emailing the Sydney Marathon organizers and posted a cry for help on the Facebook group. A few sympathy comments and one person suggested that I go early and visit the information table at the Age Group Championship start area. So I went to bed and tried to sleep…
Sunday morning our alarm went off at 2:45am with plans on leaving hotel at 3:45am. We arrived at the Sydney Oval at 4:30am, at this point I was very stressed, I couldn’t even get the words out to the security guard “I lllllost my…..” Mike had to finish my sentence. Luckily they were very accommodating and instructed us where to go. Within 10min I had a new race number!!! Quickly I texted my kids so they knew I was running and that I wouldn’t be on the app. Next was toilet time and bag check. They didn’t have enough toilets! Mike went first and I had his bag check, it was now 5:15am, last call for bag check. I had to get the volunteer to go call his name in the toilet area, luckily Mike arrived just in time to check in his bag. Now my turn to go to the toilet, huge line up. I had just enough time and then headed to the start. Once the race began it was easy to forget about the bib number stress. Running over the Harbour Bridge was amazing, the first part of the course was downhill, I focussed on not going too fast. I knew there were a lot of uphills in this course and it was windy. I tried to keep a constant effort throughout. The sights were amazing at the start, then the hills began and the wind was challenging, I kept telling myself to focus. The out and backs were not that fun, I was able to see Mike on one of them, glad to see that he was still running, as he had been dealing with an injury during the training cycle. At 19km I drank some of the Fixx nutrition drink by mistake, I thought it was water, this did not sit well in my stomach! I immediately had a cramp and needed a toilet…. I won’t elaborate on the details. My stomach finally settled and I was back in the race. At 36km I was trying to catch up with runners ahead of me, one at a time. I noticed a female up ahead who was also part of Age Group Championships, I was trying to catch up to her for a while, she was keeping a good pace. I caught up to her, we were going up a hill and all of a sudden she gave up. As I passed her I told her to keep going that she can do it. She let me pass her and about 1km later she caught up to me and said thanks, she stuck with me for the next 4km. This helped me as I had to keep her going, I couldn’t quit either. I knew the last km was downhill, I kept repeating this to myself. Just before the downhill I noticed my time, I knew if I pushed I would get a PB. I sprinted down that hill as fast as I could, and there it was the finish line at the Sydney Opera House and I got my PB. Shortly after I finished I felt a tap on my shoulder it was the girl I supported earlier, she hugged me and thanked me for saving her race. She took a selfie of the 2 of us together. This was just a special as the PB. The Age Group Championship provided a special finish area where we picked up our bags and food was provided. Pat, Mike, and I reunited there and shared our race experiences. Unfortunately the wind had picked up and we were all getting cold so we didn’t stay too long.
Later that night there was a soiree hosted by the Age Group Championship. It was nice again to meet up with others and share our stories.
The next day I was quite sore, more than usual. I suspect it had something to do with sprint downhill to the finish. The race was done now we were on vacation in Australia, what a memorable race and trip this was.
Would you do this event again?
Unlikely, since it’s so far away.
Would you recommend this event?
Absolutely! What an experience this was travelling all the way to Australia to run this race. I didn’t have this race on my bucket list, after qualifying for the World Age Group Championship only then did I consider it. If they do become a World Marathon Major I think many more will be adding this to their list.
Closing thoughts. Any hints for others planning to do this race? Where to stay? Things to bring? What to wear?
Arrive no later than the Wednesday before the race, this will give you enough time to deal with the jet lag. Stay in the CBD (downtown) it’s close to the race expo, the finish and easy to get to the start with the metro. Don’t forget to bring sunscreen.
Overall Venue Rating: :
4 – Great
Please rate the course:
4 – Great
Please rate the aid stations:
4 – Great
Run K2J 