City to Surf

From CoolRunning Australia

Please note that there is track work scheduled for race day on the City Rail Network.
If you are traveling by train please read the this forum post or visit the City Rail web page for more information

Contents 1 Race Information 2 Links 3 Start Groups 4 Course 5 Coolrunning Members City to Surf Tips 6 Old Content

Race Information

The City to Surf is a 14km fun run sponsored by the Sun Herald newspaper, and is held in Sydney Australia. The race is one of the biggest running races in the world and attracts over 60,000 participants

• Date: Sunday 10th August 2008
• Start Time: 9am

You cannot enter the race on the day. The 2008 race has reached capacity and entries are closed.

Links

• Official Website - Includes all race information and FAQ.
• Coolrunning City to Surf Forums - post your questions here
• All-time City to Surf Personal Best page.
  
• Calculator to determine your possible time for the race given your time for any other distance.

Start Groups

• Seeded Runner - Elite runners and by invitation only
• Preferred runners - A finishing time number under 55 minutes. See this forum thread regarding qualifying standards
• SH1 - Sub 75 minute finish - Red Bib numbered 1-8000
• SH2 - Sub 100 minute finish - Green Bib numbered 8001-16,000
• Blue Start - First in basis with a limit of 24,000 - Blue Bib numbered 16,001-40,000
• Back of the pack - Yellow Bib numbered 40,001 onwards

There are 4 starting guns

• 1 - Starts the SH1 group at 9am
• 2 - Start SH2 group
• 3 - Starts the Blue group
• 4 - Starts Back of the Pack - not before 9:30am

Course

The City to Surf in the heart of Sydney city at Hyde park and finishes at Bondi beach, passing through several of Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

• Official Maps
• Map My Run
• G-Map Pedometer
• Elevation Profile

Coolrunning Members City to Surf Tips

• If you are starting from HSBC or Back of the Pack, get there a bit early
• Go to the toilet early if possible
• Wear old clothes and discard them at the start. They are donated to charity.
• People are pretty good at the start. You won't need to worry about people pushing you over.
• Keep an eye on the road for discarded clothes and bottles.
• Take a look over your shoulder at the kings cross tunnel for a spectacular view
• Don't cut corners it is bad form
• Wear Sunscreen
• With all the excitement at the start of the race, don't go out hard, pace yourself, its a hard course otherwise you will run out of juice
• wear an old shirt to the start and throw it away - it will stop the sun or keep you warm
• take a small bottle of water for the 30 minutes prior
• toilets are an issue - if you head to the toilet in the final 30m then you will not get back where you were
• the hills are tough, just slow down and keep going
• the finish into Bondi seems to go on forever - use it to acknowledge the crowd - it must be like this if you are leading a big run
• wear shoes, socks, shirt, shorts that are well run in - no new gear. Wear a hat
• Heartbreak Hill often looks like it's about to flatten out around the corner, but doesn't. Bear in mind it's 2km long, so don't try to surge up it.
• The course does a U-turn right near the finish, so if you like to sprint to the end, wait until you've turned the corner and can see the finish line in front of you. Otherwise you'll run out of puff!
• The St John Ambulance posts all have plentiful supplies of sunscreen, Vaseline and Band-Aids. If your forget yours, feel free to ask them for some

Old Content

Old C2S content