‘City2Surf’ – Run from city to shore

Over 80,000 participants for a Sunday morning run. That was the tally for last Sunday’s 14km ‘City2 Surf’ race in Sydney. An unimaginable figure indeed for this ‘fun run’ as well as competitive race!

The race is a combination of fun and competition. It attracts both competitive runners and community participants who can either run or walk. 

Sponsored by the newspaper The Sunday Herald, the race has been an extremely popular event since 1971. In the first year it attracted a little less than 2,000 – 1,576 to be exact. Of them 1,509 had completed the race within the 100 minutes time limit. The numbers kept increasing until it reached a record 64,713 entrants in 2007. In its 40th year, in 2011 the number exceeded 80,000 and even this year it was over that number. Of the initial participants thirty three had taken part every year.

Participants include both men and women. According to the organisers, this year females exceeded males by 51 – 49%. Being attired in fun costumes is a feature of the race. In addition to those wearing funny dresses, some were dressed as pandas and lions. 

Starting from Hyde Park at the City centre, the race covers several suburbs before reaching the Bondi Beach, one of the most popular beaches in New South Wales. There is much excitement throughout the race with crowds gathering on either side of the road cheering the participants. Many amateur bands perform along the suburban roads.

The race started at 8 in the morning and most competitors had finished by 11 am. “Marathon runners and wheelchair athletes took off first. They were followed by fitness fanatics, fancy dress funsters, pensioners and mums with prams. Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten was among the runners and he finished under 80 minutes,” The Sun-Herald reported. 

The winner, a 26-year old distance runner, clocked 42 minutes flat. The record stands at 40.03 minutes and has been held for 25 years. The winning female finished the race in 47.29 minutes for the second year. A three-time Paralympian gold medallist was the elite wheelchair athlete winner breaking his own record from 2013 in a time of 33.22 seconds.

The event is sponsored by Westpak Bank and is a fund-raising project for charities. The organisers had a target of $5 million and were hopeful of reaching it. The funds are to be distributed among 850 charity organisations. A number of corporates lend a hand through participation in numerous ways including banner advertising, providing services, sponsoring groups and direct donations.