Perth City to Surf

2007 Perth City to Surf 12k run

Well I did it!!! And all without stopping, not a good time, but I did finish, come on 12km is about 7 1/2 miles, not bad for an old bird!

When I entered I had this vision of running through the city and parks in the sunshine thinking wow this is great, I'm in Australia, in a beautiful city in the sun and I can do this!

The reality.............

We got up before 6.00, in the dark, having been kept awake half the night by a storm, drove about 30 miles to Perth, the Swan River had waves on it that were coming over the Freeway! Got dropped off in the city, we had to be there 30 mins before the start, we got soaked before the race even started - see the picture, taken on my phone just before we set off. The fashion item for this year seemed to be the cut off bin bag! The race finally got underway - the count down to start was on - 10....9.....8....7....6...5....4.....3...2.....1.....and a major downpour just came out of nowhere, the rain was coming into our faces and we couldn't see for more than a few metres in front of us. So we set off, through the tall buildings of the city offering us some shelter, then we went up St Georges Terrace, and out of the buildings and up an enourmaous hill. The wind was that strong I felt like I was running backwards. Well I thought this course was flat - oh no there were so many hills and so much rain and wind! But it was fun!

Along the route people had gathered to watch, some in the front yard of their houses with friends having bbq breakfast and drinking champagne, under the shelter of their verandahs, oh how jealous I was. I was even jealous of the tramp with the dog drinking beer and shouting encouragement/abuse at the runners.

Well ok the rain did clear a bit, and I managed to get to the end having run through some great parkland and enjoyed the city, and what a sense of achievement it was. As I reached city beach oval, the smell of BBQ (yes again) hit me and then seeing the sea I know why it's called city to 'surf', the surf was definitely up!

Everyone made the most of it and some dressed up for the occasion, I spent most of the course just behind or just in front of Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper!

We came home and had a hot shower and a spa, then got the burgers on the barbie! and had some beers!

Yes I will be doing it again next year.