Last weekend I ran in the 51st City-Bay Fun Run, South Australia’s biggest running event. I have been running in this event since 2013.
My first 2 City-Bay runs (2013 and 2014) pre-dated this blog, so thankfully there are no reports of those!
My first City-Bay run report was from 2015 – the year I did my PB. I then went back to try (unsuccessfully) to better my time in 2016 so I decided after that, that I was done with the event!
I was dragged back to City-Bay in 2018 when the half marathon was first introduced – I definitely wanted to be part of the inaugural half! I then went back to try to better my time in 2019 and the less said about that, the better! (As it happens I didn’t write a report for that one. I wouldn’t want to read it if I had written one!)
The next 2 years were cancelled due to COVID. I was hanging out to run the half one more time but I had to wait until 2022. Then I pulled out due to injury, and re-entered later for the 12k, which I ended up quite enjoying despite being a bit underdone and well below my best!
I finally went back and did one more half marathon in 2023 and I can safely say I am now well and truly done with that distance, and it’s all about the 12k now!
I had entered the 12k in 2024 to try to give my old PB (51:21 – still haunting me!) a shake. However I had to withdraw due to getting an offer I couldn’t refuse (Sydney Marathon on the same day, as part of the World Age Group Championships – an opportunity that is unlikely to come again, at least not for a very long time!)
Finally, in 2025, I was back to run the 12k again! I’d entered early, I think as soon as entries opened. This was pretty much my one big event for the year.
My last ‘race’ was the Adelaide (half) Marathon in early May. I’d since done the McLaren Vale (half) Marathon as a pacer in early June, but no events since then. Since McLaren Vale I’d been concentrating solely on City-Bay – with my ‘long’ Sunday runs being 12k each week. I didn’t see any point in running anything longer, and with breaks from running due to Army commitments, I didn’t want to do any other events in between. It was a bit challenging to keep motivated without the lure of competition (and bling!) but I think it served me well. Things have changed a bit since the days of doing a hilly trail race one weekend and then a flat roadie the next! (I’m a bit more obsessed with speed now!)
A few weeks out from City-Bay I got an email from my Army unit offering to pay members to run the event. 3 hours pay, to be precise. I read the instructions several times looking for a catch (did we have to run it as a group, did we have to run it in full kit – both of those would have been a hard NO from me!) but no, all we had to do was run it, admittedly wearing our unit shirt, (although in hindsight no-one was checking up on that so I probably could have gotten away with wearing normal running gear) and just sign a form at the finish line. The shirt is a bit loose, and I prefer to run in fitted gear purely because it is streamlined and less likely to ruin my day if it is rainy or windy, but I decided to bite the bullet and run for the money!
I bought new shoes (Nike Vaporfly 4, the most I’ve ever paid for any running gear – I’d been wanting to buy them for ages but no-one ever had my size – as soon as I saw some in my size I bought them!). I’d had them for a while (I’d probably had them 6 months) but had not broken them out until parkrun 3 weeks ago where I ran my fastest time in 9 months. They felt pretty good! I’d previously had 2 pairs of Vaporfly 2 (the ones with the really narrow sole that feels like you’re on a tightrope) and the soles wear out way too quickly but I keep wearing them because I’m gonna get my money’s worth, dammit! (The 4’s have a more ‘normal’ sole)
I wore the new shoes again for my last 12k ‘long’ run the week before City-Bay. I ran faster than usual for my training runs but it felt like hard work. Admittedly I did do my run on Saturday after parkrun, because I knew Saturday night was going to be a late night and I figured I’d give myself a Sunday sleep-in! My lower legs were really sore for a few days after that run (I put it down to the extra distance compared to parkrun, plus for the longer distance I used orthotics, whereas I would go without for 5k)
My week of running was very light – easy laps of the oval instead of my usual Tuesday speed session, and a shortened Thursday run with fellow C2B runners Sarah and Amanda.
I was contemplating a pizza for dinner (my ‘go-to’ pre-race meal for a half marathon or marathon) but I’d been out for a very nice lunch at the Seacliff Surf Lifesaving Club so I went with a big salad instead.
My travel plans were different to ‘usual’. In the past I would drive down to the vicinity of the finish line at Glenelg early (making sure I parked in such a way that I would be able to get out afterwards, factoring in the road closures) and catch the tram to the city, and then my car would be waiting for me at the end. The thinking here was that I’d rather be on a crowded tram with fresh people rather than with sweaty people heading back to the city afterwards! (Also, the first 2 years I ran the City-Bay, I had to make it to a 10am soccer game straight afterwards, and the only way that could possibly work would be if my car was at Glenelg).
This year, the trams are out of action for 6 months. Also, I didn’t really need to rush home (very fortunately as it turns out – more on that later!) so I figured I’d park in the city and figure out the return journey when I got there. This also of course meant I didn’t need to get up so early!
Bib collection had moved from the city (always a bit of a pain in the arse to get to, especially for those who don’t work in the city) to the athletics stadium at Mile End, which I thought would be pretty convenient as it’s less than 1km from my work. I made 3 attempts to get there (bearing in mind that as well as bib collection, there was also an athletics carnival on at the stadium on Thursday and Friday) – Thursday after work, when it took me 10 minutes to drive 1km and I ended up bailing because I was going to be late for a class. Then again on Friday morning when I got into the carpark but couldn’t find a park. Finally I had the bright idea of walking down there on my lunch break – perfect! 30 minutes from my desk and back to my desk again! I definitely did not want to be leaving it until Saturday which was the last day for collection.
The weather was not looking great. Rain was forecast, and someone at parkrun on Saturday mentioned a head wind. Now I’m not 100% sure about this but I am almost certain that 2015, my PB year, was very much aided by a tail wind. Perhaps anyone else who ran a surprisingly good time in 2015 could verify this?
I mentioned before about preferring to run in fitted clothing – rain and wind were 2 things that did not go well with a loose fitting shirt. My first solution was to tuck it in – needless to say that would have made me look like a complete knob and I did not do that. My better solution was to pull it tight and secure it at the back with a hair tie so it sat nice and flat. And in hindsight, other than pushing my sleeves up briefly when I was getting a bit warm, I barely even noticed the T-shirt (or indeed any of my running kit) during the race. It was fine!
I set my alarm for 5:30 (and 5:35 and 5:40, not that I ever sleep through my first alarm but superstition leads me to still set 3 alarms for events!) The start time was 8:00 but my main reason for getting up early was to eat breakfast at 6am. Once I was ready, I was considering walking into the city (an easy 40 minutes) but then I remembered it was raining so I went back to the original plan of parking on War Memorial Drive near King William Road which would be an easy walk to the start.
I had a Sydney Marathon black backpack for my drop bag but decided to put that inside an insulated shopping bag – firstly to keep my clothing for afterwards dry, and also to keep my post-race Coke somewhat cold. The bag was also bright blue so hopefully easier to pick out in the bag drop afterwards! I also put on my rain jacket which I was glad to have had in the car, otherwise I would have got VERY wet (well, wetter than I already did!). Note to self – a disposable poncho or even a garbage bag would have been a good idea on this occasion!
I wandered over to the start area with my bag. I needed to drop my bag at the baggage truck before I did my warmup, but in order to do this I needed to remove my rain jacket as I definitely did not want to have this on the run! (I didn’t even run with my phone – all I had in my pocket at this stage was a caffeine gel). I dropped my bag off at about 7:20 then went for my 2km warmup along the river. On the way back I ran through several puddles, completely saturating my super light shoes and socks in the process. My shoes were now somewhat heavier! After my warmup I had my energy drink (V Refresh citrus lemonade – seems to have been discontinued but some servos still have some stock left so I buy it up whenever I see it!) and I had planned to have my gel right before the start, but I ended up having it about 15 minutes before, because I wanted to find a bin in which to put the packet, and I didn’t want to have to run with it in my pocket.
In the sub 60 start area I saw my Army buddy Tim who would have been in the sub 50 section if places hadn’t sold out, and parkrun buddy Michael who was wearing some very nice pink shoes and socks! I didn’t see anyone else I knew which was surprising as there were quite a few people I know who would have been in there! (And also some non-sub 60 runners who had snuck in – it was very obvious as they had different coloured bibs!)
The MC announced that this was only the third time in 51 years that the City-Bay had been affected by rain! I certainly had never experienced it before in my times running the event! Fortunately the rain stopped not long before the start, but we were all pretty much drenched!
It was a bit congested at the start, I had to do a bit of dodging and weaving in the first kilometre, but I still managed to run 4:09. I hadn’t looked at the average pace I ran when I did my PB, but I was talking to Tim before the start and he said 4:10 pace was 50 minutes and 4:20 was 52 minutes. Given the weather conditions I’d decided that 50 minutes was probably a bit ambitious (all things being equal, sub-50 was my A goal) and even my B goal of beating my PB looked like a stretch (especially if my 2015 PB was wind-assisted as I suspected) so I figured if I could sit under 4:20 I’d do 52 minutes which is still quite respectable! 4:09 for the first kilometre was a good start!
The run itself was pretty uneventful. I high fived a cow and a shark, and I got a power-up somewhere towards the end. The wind was not really noticeable, and it didn’t rain at all while I was running (it did start up again not long after I finished).
I had 2 drink ‘stops’ (grab and go, no stopping) and was 1/2 for getting my cups in the bins. I was sitting on sub 4:10 pace at the halfway point but I realised I was probably not going to be able to sustain that for another 6km. My plan was to keep under 4:20, and if possible, under PB pace. I did the maths at the 8km mark; if I ran at 4:30 pace to the end (which was achievable, and easy to calculate – 18 minutes for 4km) I would be very close to a PB!
There was a good atmosphere along the course – I recall one band, near Keswick Barracks (not the Army band) – they were playing Sweet Caroline as I went past. There were also other groups with music but I suspect the weather may have put some of the spectators off!
I think this happens every year, but as we got to Brighton Road, some of the runners were sent straight ahead and others (myself included) went left. Unlike previous years, we didn’t run all the way to the end of Jetty Road, turning off again at Gordon St and then back onto Anzac Highway where we finished. I managed to pick up the pace in the final stretch because I was comfortably going to get under my PB but I wanted to go sub 51 minutes! As it happened my final km was almost the exact same time as my first! And although my watch showed 51 minutes when I finished (and when I eventually remembered to stop it , it was 51:08), when I looked up my official results, it was 50:59! So I was extremely happy with that!
Looking at the photos later, I was thinking, they’re all really bad photos of me, but when I thought about it , it makes sense – they show someone who is so laser-focused on the finish line and a time goal that she totally forgot that anyone else was there (let alone photographers!) My friend Kate called out to me in the finish chute, apparently I raised my hand to acknowledge her but I don’t remember that at all, and I definitely did not know it was her! Definitely had the blinkers on! So although the photos don’t look the best, I’ll take that if it means an all-time PB!
I later heard from some other people that there was a bottleneck at the finish line and for some of them it took 5-6 minutes to walk across the line. Apparently those affected will have their times adjusted but I think that would be quite an unsatisfactory way to finish the run (especially if they were going for a time or a PB!)
After getting my medal, it started raining again! I saw my friend Denis who had run sub-50 (he’d run past me during the race) and he was going to get a coffee, he kindly bought me one too as I had my phone in my drop bag and at that stage I don’t think the baggage truck had even arrived yet! But first of all I had to find the Army tent so I could go and sign the pay sheet and get paid. I was expecting a big recruiting display but it was just 2 army personnel in uniform in one unmarked tent. Luckily Denis had seen them and was able to point them out to me.
After getting coffee (which predictably took a very long time – it always does at these events, everyone wants one, and especially when it’s cold and wet!) we went over to the baggage area. That was when things got ridiculous. I don’t recall this ever being an issue before (and maybe I’d previously left my bag in my car, so I hadn’t had to deal with it before) but we stood around for AGES waiting for the truck to be unloaded. Then there was a lengthy and slow-moving queue to get into the baggage area to collect our bags. And you were only allowed to collect your own bag. So for example, Denis could see his bag quite close to the fence, but he couldn’t ask another runner to pass it to him. I get that they were wanting to keep it secure and make sure bags didn’t get stolen. but I’ve been to plenty of events before where the bags are left unattended in a tent and people just go find their own. And people are told not to leave valuables in their bags and the organisers take no responsibility for any items lost or stolen. So I think that could definitely be done better. I’m not sure how, but there has to be a better way. (And next year I will bring a throwaway jacket/poncho, and leave my bag in my car which will be at Glenelg!) I checked my watch and by the time I got my bag (which I could fortunately see from the queue so there was no hunting around once I finally got released into the area) and had 2 staff check to make sure my bag matched my bib, it was 2 hours since I’d crossed the finish line!
It was lucky that the rain had stopped during the time that the bags were being unloaded and eventually collected, otherwise the dry clothes I put on as soon as I got my bag back, may not have been dry! My Coke was not ice cold but it was still enjoyable!
The bag collection was a shit show but once I’d collected it and put my warmer clothes on, I went straight to the bus queue and that went very smoothly. I made an error in judgement not getting off the bus at the railway station, thinking the bus would be heading north along King William Rd (towards my car) when in fact it went south, meaning extra walking in the rain for me! I’d taken off my Nikes and put on my Birkenstocks when I’d got my bag back, but it turns out they’re not great for walking up King William in the rain, as the pavers are VERY slippery and I had to walk very carefully! But I did eventually get back to my car and headed straight to a nearby cafe to get some lunch – I was starving! (Other than an apple at the finish line, I hadn’t eaten since 6am and by the time I got my mushrooms on toast it was after 12:30!)
I don’t want to be too negative about the event because it was generally well organised and run, and most enjoyable, however the baggage fiasco did really put a dampener on things (more so than the dampening we got from above). That’s not to say I won’t be back next year to try to break the magical 50 minute barrier!
Thanks to all the volunteers and organisers for what was overall a pretty great day!
I think that’s me done with events for the year – I’ve only done a total of 5 but this year is all about quality over quantity! And I think it’s paid off!