Something Exciting!

....so it's worth blogging about!

I ran the SMH Half Marathon yesterday through the streets of Sydney.  It was a perfect morning, even quite cool when I got out for a warm-up at 6:30am and Hyde Park was already abuzz with hundreds of runners going about their pre-race rituals!


I came to Sydney on Saturday, stayed overnight and returned home on Sunday afternoon.  I love this SMH run!  Probably my favourite run.

There's something special about runners having the city roads to themselves for those few hours.  I always get a thrill running down Hunter Street  - and any other downhills for that matter - when I think about how they're crammed during the week with people, cars, buses, etc.  Even running up Hunter Street  - and the Argyle Cut too  - has something for me to enjoy including the encouragement from other Cool Runners  - CR Thomo especially, who all but stopped the run when he bellowed while running down Pitt Street: "Go Norma!"  Sook54 caught up near the Art Gallery and ran a couple of kilometres with me until she headed off at a faster pace.

I didn't expect to run faster than at the CRRF HM....and I didn't!  In fact, 4 minutes slower.  I set a pace on the Garmin to get me in by 2hours 25 minutes allowing for a tough, hilly course, but for the first time the Garmin must have cut out for about 7 minutes in the high rise areas and I didn't bother too much  about looking at it during the second loop.

So...............
I was astonished to see the finishing clock at the Archibald Fountain say 2:21:16.....5 minutes faster than last year's time of 2:26:09....and that for me was exciting and worth blogging about!