nicolewilson

The City2Surf (C2S) journey began for me some 10 years ago when I ran/walked the 14km to Bondi with a group of my best-friends. It was a fantastic day full of laughter and great times. Needless to say, at that point, I never thought I’d be a runner and would one day RUN the C2S.

This year is was my third consecutive year running in the event, and each year gets better! My journey for the 2014 C2S began in February 2014 when I applied to run as a Gold Charity entrant with the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. I was welcomed by the charity with open arms and immediately began fundraising. For those of you thinking about becoming a Gold Charity entrant in the future, JUST DO IT! I was concerned that raising $1,000 (the minimum pledge) would be difficult, but I was soon increasing my goal to $2,000 and even exceeded that before race day. The first $1,000 was from myself (what would have been my race entry fee), family and friends, no corporate sponsorship. It can be done!

My lead up to the day was great, my training was going well, I had enlisted the help of a great friend of mine, fellow RMA member and inspirational marathon runner, Leah Fitzgerald, to assist with some technique and hill fitness sessions, and before I knew it I was running at 5.15 per km consistently over 10km. Prior to this I was lucky to get under 5.30 kms over 5km distance. I don’t run a lot, maybe 3 times a week, so to achieve this level of fitness over a few months I was happy. I was on-track to complete the 14km in under 75mins, this was my goal (2013 was 80mins). And then it happened…..4 days before the race I developed a chesty cough. 2 days later I had the head cold and sinus infection to go with it. What to do?! Of course I was still going but the idea of getting a good time had gone out the window.

I was disappointed to say the least.

Saturday morning arrives and I jump on the plane from Coffs Harbour to Sydney, loaded with every vitamin and cough syrup you can think of! I was not going to let this flu beat me. Of course on arrival to Sydney I had just enough energy to do some shopping 😉 and then it was time to recuperate and rest before the big day.

5am, Sunday 10 August, here it is. I wake and don’t feel too bad. Some coughing, some congestion but not too bad (that’s what I tell myself anyway!). Preparation begins, a homemade protein ball and a banana for breakfast (I can’t stomach much before I run) followed by my concoction of vitamins, minerals and syrups.

Pull on my Humpty singlet and I feel 100% immediately. The adrenalin has already kicked in!

I start the walk from my apartment to Hyde Park. That feeling of walking out the door and into the mix of people on their way to the run is like no other. As I get closer to Hyde Park it is organised chaos! Having not started in the Gold group before I began searching for my bag drop, on the opposite side of Hyde Park! Well, it was a good warm-up jog anyway! Luckily we didn’t have the bag-drop fiasco that other runners did on the day.

Bag-drop done, and a quick stop off at the port-a-loo (has to be done right?!) and off to my start line. The Gold start is the same side as the yellow start (College St, Nth), but the yellow runners are not allowed to enter the area until after 8am, so essentially I walked onto a very quiet street. I was questioning if I was in the right place. Wandered down to the Gold start, and there they were, the fundraising champions of the day! I spotted another Humpty singlet close to the front of the pack so shuffled through to her, which wasn’t hard as everyone was just dancing (to Redfoo) and having a great time. Having found the fellow Humpty runner, Chris, I now realise I am STANDING ON MY START LINE! Having come from the green group last year and having 10,000 plus people in front of me in that group alone, I was in shock! I started my Garmin looking for signal and began to soak it all up. The atmosphere at this point was electric! I could see the Legends standing in front of me, the elite runners at the start of the red pack and the wheelies off to the left of me.

Before I knew it was edging closer to 8am. Just before the red group started the wheelies took off at an awesome speed down the first decline. I checked my Garmin again and wouldn’t you know it, no signal! Argh! What do I do?! It was at this point that I decided to run this race “naked”. I have been training for this run since this time last year, so for me it was all about raising money for charity and beating my time goal. To be sick leading in to it put such a dampener on things. But I wasn’t going to let the great mood and happiness of the people around me go to waste! I told myself to relax, to just run as fast as my body (chest!) would allow me to and to enjoy every second of it. This was my turning point….

BANG! The red group were off! There are sooooo many of them! Thankfully they were all out and running before our gun went off. 8am on the dot: BANG!! And we are running! Around the corner and all I have is space in front of me. Wow, I thought to myself, this is going to be a great run, no sideways running to avoid people.

The first 4km went by so quickly. As I passed the Golden Sheaf I heard the Humpty girls screaming my name, I have goose bumps thinking about it, spurred me on that little bit more.

At the bottom of Heartbreak Hill I assessed my physical state. Breathing, good. Lungs, good. Legs, not hurting (yet!). I had no coughing to this point so up I go. I looked to the top of the hill (thanks Leah!) and concentrated on keeping a steady pace and staying on my toes. Then I was at the top! It was over before I had even thought about it! It’s the next two hills that get me normally, so I pressed on and was able to get up both without too much fuss. After the second small hill I spotted a Humpty runner in front of me, so I kept my eye on him and used him as my pacer for the rest of the run.

Coming in to Bondi is amazing. The crowd is yelling at everyone and it gives you the extra bit of energy you need to sprint the last kilometre, which feels like it takes 10 minutes mind you. But as I turned the last corner towards the beach I could see the finish line, lengthened my stride and pushed on. When I looked at the time as I crossed the finish line, did a quick calculation, and realised I had just run it in 70 minutes, I think I was in shock. I congratulated the other Humpty runner (we crossed at the same time) and he confirmed that we were spot on 70 minutes. Unbelievable!!

To this day I still don’t believe it.

From the finish line I headed down to the Coates Hire tent (thanks Coates!!) who provided the Humpty Dumpty runners on the day with refreshments (champagne!) and a meal (BBQ, salads, sweets, you name it!) after the race. What an awesome way to finish the journey, surrounded by like-minded individuals who had done an incredible job raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity AND who love to run!!

My C2S tips:

• If you think you can raise $1000 join a charity group, not only helping the awesome charities that are onboard but also cementing an unbelievable starting position on the day.

• Heartbreak hill is all talk – take it steady, get up on your toes, and get a good rhythm. It’s over before you even realise it.

• If you don’t normally drink water or Gatorade while running 14km, then DON’T STOP AND DRINK! You will get a stitch. I learnt this the hard way 2 years ago.

• If you can stomach a gel, take one, it helps me to finish strong.

• Pick a runner in front of you, catch them, then repeat this process.

• Have fun!!! Soak up the atmosphere and use the crowd’s energy to get you through it – lots of children to high-5 along the way!!