This is a very small marathon but official organized by my great friend Jane Trumper. It starts at Manly Wharf and hugs the coastline as much as possible with various trails and walking tracks along the magnificent Sydney Harbour. The run to the Harbour Bridge is about 22k and quite frankly for a road runner is brutal.
I caught the 6.20am ferry from Circular Quay to arrive just before the 7.00 am start. I was rewarded with the site of a huge passenger line docking and then a magnificent sunrise. A gorgeous way to start a weekend.
In that distance there is hardly a flat section and if so 30/40 metres in length at most. The walking paths are continually undulating up or down or there are stairs, stairs and more stairs. By the time I got to the Harbour Bridge I was cooked. That is my legs where shot and there was very little running left in them and when I did try to run it was not much faster than a firm walk.
So it was a firm walk for most of the next 20k to the finish. But then again why would you want to put your head down and push to the finish as quick as you can and not take the time to enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery Australia has to offer.
Starting off with crossing the Harbour Bridge, down to the Rocks (although briefly), past the Opera House steps, Lady Macquarie's Chair, Boy Charlton Pool, through Kings Cross and then a wonder through some suburbs that are the most expensive in Australia before going a coastal walk just past Rose Bay including most of 'Heartbreak Hill' through to Watson's Bay.
The finishing time was not relevant. The experience of the day was priceless.
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