PocketsofPerth
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
City to Surf Run 2009So the day finally came for my housemate, Kristal, who has been anticipating for the 12k run on Sunday, 30 August. Like I mentioned before, my participation was born out of spontaneity.
On the Friday before the run, I had accompanied Kristal to the Convention Centre behind Esplanade Busport to collect her tag/bib. They had booths set up for last minute registrations.
The thought crossed my mind, but I was still in much deliberation. I mean, I've never entered any of this before. I haven't trained for it, and I was fasting. I brushed it off for a while, and walked around the exhibition hall. There were several cool items, and Kristal even got herself a pair of Asics running shoes at a good buy! She was contemplating on getting the five-fingers shoe though. It's a really unique pair! Check it out:
Vibram FiveFingers Classic in Lilac/White
Cool, huh! It looks just like one of those toe socks except that you can actually wear this one out without getting yourself hurt!
It's lightweight, and from what I can recall, it's within the price range of ordinary sport shoes.
It comes in different colours, of course but for the sake of visual pleasure, I presented you with the one in lilac. (I'm such a girly girl).
The funny part is the slogan on the poster I saw at the booth reads:
Train like an African, Run like an African
It kinda makes sense, lah cause we know that Africans, who are usually known for their fast cadence, run barefooted (not really a choice, I guess but a signature, nonetheless) and it cleverly entices people into thinking that if you run barefoot as well, you can run as fast as them! (these people must be delusional, but I still think the slogan works!)
Well anyway, the morning of the run was a pretty hectic one. I didn't drink as much as I should've had during my sahur (breakfast at dawn before the start of a new fasting day) but I did manage to digest a banana for energy (is this true? my friend once told me to eat a banana before a race, back when I was 9).
Because of the road deviations/blockages, we had no idea how to get to the venue punctually! We booked a cab to get us to the nearest train station (only train services were not disrupted) but instead, the cab driver offered to drive us all the way to the reporting venue. We were so, so lucky! But we also had to pay the additional charges lah.
In the cab, evidently still a little sleepy.
Marathoners along Stirling Highway.
On the way to Esplanade Park, we caught sight of the runners of the 42.4k event. It was a chilly, chilly morning at approximately 7.40 am, and they're up & running already! Didn't manage to capture the leads, who were all Africans.
Oh by the way, the winner of the Marathon will get to bring home $25,000. In cash prize ... I think! The winner is a guy named Joel Kemboi, if I'm not mistaken.
According to news reports, the City to Surf Run 2009 attracted nearly 40, 000 people. Imagine! Running alongside that many people. Apparently, it is the largest event to attract the most number of elite athletes in Australia, since the Sydney Olympics! How cool is that?
If you were wondering, for all 12k events, starting point is within Perth CBD, at St George's Terrace, to City Beach via Subiaco. For the 4k event, starting point is at Perry Lakes Reserve to City Beach.
As I had carried along a shoebag with me containing the digi cam, handphone, wallet and towel, I'll need some sort of locker to store these things while I run. Thank goodness for the Thrifty store people who provided this very service, free of charge!
Basically, you hand them your stuff and place it inside this big white plastic bag, seal it with a portion of your number tag for identification purposes, and you'll meet them again at the end point, after you've completed your run! Awesome, huh?
Kristal's going to store something in there so she can run to her best ability! Haha!
I've never been to an event like this back home in Singapore, so I can't testify to this, but the City to Surf Run was really interesting and vibrant!
They have a best-dressed competition for participants, and a respectable amount of people took that challenge!
There was a group of participants from one of the 12k running categories (there is a 12k walk category) who got all dressed up in their costumes and even carried a big cylindrical shaped advertisement approximately 3-4 metres long. Imagine carrying that for over an hour, up hills and down the hills, covering a range of 12 clicks!
Can you picture yourself doing that? I certainly can't! Sadly, I didn't get to snap a photo of them either but I did get pictures of these fancy-dressed participants:
Her hair must have been heavy, huh? If I remember correctly, she was a 12k walk participant though, so not that much big a deal. I do wonder if her hair managed to stay put throughout the course of the event. You think?
I've got to admit that although I wasn't fully prepared for the race and there were plenty of hiccups along the way, I did enjoy myself a lot.
Of course there were times where I wanted to give up because I got a little thirsty but I keep telling myself, "You paid $34 for this! Better maximise it and keep on running!" Haha. What a way to motivate myself, right? But it worked! It was a good run, and what's most important was that at the end of the day, I felt good too!
Kristal and I are generally happy with our timings although I'm sure both of us feel we could have done better given more preferable circumstances.
We got our results online the very next day! I'm too shy (maybe a little embarrassed lah) to post the real figures up. Haha!!
Before the race. Still looking a little 'stale'. Haha.
After the race. Definitely more energized! Yay!
We ♥ our medals! (We even took home an extra each. *shameshame!)
There were so many things going on at the scene. It was like a carnival!
You can't see it from these pictures, but there were like rides and stuff (for kids, mostly).
We were blessed with good weather too even though it has been pouring in Perth! Told you we were lucky!
We had wanted to cool down and walk around, check these booths out. But if we did, we'd be late for another event! We were busy like bees that day!
Oh well, no losses. Till we meet again next year!
Hopefully, I'm ready for a 12k run by then!