A Floridian Runner in Penang: Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, Sydney NSW.

September 22, 2013, I was met with bright sunshine, clear blue skies and cool temps. This is why I love to travel outside of Malaysia from time to time, to escape the heat and humidity, run in better atmospheric conditions, (Malaysia at times during the year does have difficulty with acrid smoke haze from the "slash and burn" palm oil farming that takes place across southeast asia) and have a chance to run in places I will never have the chance to run in again. This is my second trip to Australia for a run, this time I was solo, the last time Rox and Brenna came with. I had not trained well prior to this race, I have been dealing with some hip pain (not the joint/bone), and Rox had been spending every other week in Singapore, so getting up early to run was not possible during the weeks that she was away. training here in full sun and 80 degree temps is not fun, and after getting Brenna on the bus its 7:30ish, so the sun is up full and its HOT! I am however Brenna's dad first, and I like that just fine!
So I booked a Singapore airlines flight (love flying with them!) and found a hotel within walking distance of the race finish, and also within walking distance of Circular Quay, which is a really nice waterfront dinning and shopping area in Sydney.
I got in very early on Saturday the 21st, got to the hotel, and was able to check in right away, so I have to highly recommend the Sofitel Wentworth, a fantastic hotel, close to everything. So I settled in, connected to the wifi and found the best route to the Town Hall, where the packet collection was. I registered for both the 1/2 Marathon and the 10KM runs, thinking that if I really did not feel up to snuff, I would take on the 10KM instead of the 1/2. After much thought and convincing by my beautiful bride and finding out the finish for the 1/2 was at the opera house, it was a no brainer.

So packet collection was quick and easy, I even bought some ASICS gear at the expo, they were the title sponsor so all the commemorative clothing was done by them. It was an easy walk down to the Ton hall, and i found some 7-11 type shops to grab some water, yogurt and a bananna for breakfast. While at the expo, the next mission was to find out the best way to get to the start line, which was at Milson's Point, just over the bridge from where I was staying. The general opinion was to "take the train"! the next mission was to find out how to do that, the woman I spoke to who was very helpful told me the station to leave from and the time to catch it. The volunteers for this event were AWESOME! I will get to that more later. I headed back to the hotel, on the way back, I ran into the statue of Islay, Queen Victoria's Dog, who talks...oh yeah...talking dog!

Getting back to the hotel, I asked the concierge about the train and the location of the stations the woman from the expo suggested, I found the St James station is a quick walk, ticketing was easy and inexpensive. I had my plan set for the morning. the next step was finding some FOOD!
on the way back I saw a few places, my best lunch option though was the little "pieman" (not sure if its called that) place across the street from the hotel. dinner was a different story, I had gotten some info on a little italian place not far from the hotel, so after a short walk, discovered that it was packed...other options...on the way back toward the hotel, I found .....

This place was great, fresh ingredients, just a good pre race meal.

Race day 4:30am Sunday 22nd September.

I had to catch the train at 5:15, figured it might be crowded (I was right) so I wanted to get there a bit early, and with a 15 min or so walk, I did not want to run into trouble. I tend to be anxious normally, on a race day it actually increases by a factor of 100. The train was packed, I mean Manhattan rush hour packed. To the venue, turned in my bag to bag collection, then tried to keep warm, it was chilly.

The race began right on time with three different corrals, eventually we all just mixed in to one mass of humanity for the start. I started well and found that due to the cooler weather I was able to maintain a good pace...the view across the harbor bridge was really nice, I just have a tough time during a race stopping to take pictures. I ran really well up until about 9-10 miles and then the pain and cramping began, so the last 3-4 miles were a walk a bit, run a bit.

This is a great course, lots of down hill sections, mostly flat, Tons of supporters and volunteers, everyone cheering or playing music. I really gotta say, If you want a great race, make sure you have great volunteers, This race had Awesome volunteers, from packet collection to pre race, to in race, to post race. They were all smiling and helpful, standing ovation for all involved in this race! As great a course as it was, i was disappointed because i had not trained properly for this, i really feel like I could have PR'd this race, as it was, I ran a 1:59:12, the race timing had me at 2:01:01...