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Nothing to fear as I didnt come across any weirdos along the way this time, as for loathing .... But first to dispense with the pleasantries, thank you Kevin for organizing a great run once again .... did you have a hand in the design of the fjords of Sweden ??

I thought the morning run to Manly was just brilliant, I ran along with Dave Pettit & Thomas Schattovits & we all followed Jan Herrmann who was powering along out in front the whole way. It was a great coastal panorama; running along passed people out for a swim or a surf, through the midst of a surfing event (To the tunes of Ben Harper ?!) & a surf life saving competition with kids being assessed at CPR & formation marching, pass the odd gorgeous girl in a bikini (yep i dont get to the beach enough) & out to each..&...every ..headland, to admire the stunning vista. Sun, sea & sand .. nice soft sand above the high tide water mark for us with the odd wave catching me out & soaking my shoes despite a last minute diversional dash. I thought the dip at Dee Why was a nice tease, Dave saw it as a good oppurtunity to take a piss. We all carried our shoes along the next beach & found it a little easier. None of us could figure out the omission of Nth Head.

We had a leisurely lunch at Manly, then Dave, Jan & I carried on to the spit, where Dave headed home. Jan continued onto Bradleys Head Rd where he decided to call it Quits. I attempted to coax him on .. "As your attorney I advise you to take a hit out of the little brown bottle in my shaving kit". or in our case, "can i offer you a museli bar or some jelly beans".

I arrived at Bradleys head at about 4pm where it started to drizzle, i couldnt find the non-existant route that was marked on the map above Little Sirus Cove, so I referred to the written instructions & headed down to then along the stunning path around Cremorne. Over the Bridge in steady rain, down to the waters edge to admire the bridge from beneath & then onto the Opera House ( 5.55pm )& around it (nice touch) to start leg 4.

Going around farm cove I felt totally stuffed & stopped in the shallow caves near the point to eat, & then again at a shop in Woolloomooloo which i left at 7pm. I felt better after this, plugged my walkman in & headed of to the cross. I'd bought some garbage bags at the shop to make a rain vest out of but i wasnt going to put it on until necessary. In Double Bay I couldnt go passed the 2nd jetty as it was just mud all along the shoreline, so i took a small diversion inland. I started on the Heritage trail along the Vaucluse shore just as it got dark but knowing these runs take forever i had my headlamp with me. The trail was wet & pretty torturous, but I had a great view of the city & the bridge lights on this cloudy night. Eventually i made my way out to south head (9.30pm), what a buzz looking back around the harbour, all cloaked in darkness, the bright lights of Manly & a solitary light of a ship out to sea.

Then onto Bondi, my feet started to feel like my shoes were full of gravel, & i stopped several times to shake my socks & shoes free of sand. I noticed my feet were white & shrivelled up from running in wet shoes for so long, maybe the saltwater didnt help either. I skipped the last bit of coastal scenery & hobbled straight down military rd to bondi & caught a bus that pulled up at the shops at the bottom of the hill (alas 50m short of the beach itself). I definitely felt like a freak as the bus proceeded passed the clubs of the main beach strip & loaded up with everyone making there way home.

Lawrence Mead