City to Surf 12k - 43:32

Fantastic conditions for running today ; but it was a tough day at the office. I suspected that my endurance over distance would be a factor and so it was. I pretty much ran out of juice when I hit West Coast highway for the looong finishing straight - tough finish. I think my 10k split was 36 flat, judging by the Garmin beeps around me.

I ran a consistent pace I think (hard to judge, no k markers out there) and was only passed by two people (one being Sarah Jameson, so that's OK...). Ran well up the hills and picked up a lot of places there. Disappointing not to find a group to run with, but it worked well picking off runners ahead. The course was a bit better this year going down Hay on the left side the whole way to Perry Lakes ( map ), but it was 90m long by MapMyRun, which is pretty accurate. Such is life.

Crowd support today was definitely a step up on years past, although the way the finish was done - on different sides of the road separated by the median strip - made it hard for spectators to cheer in runners in the 12 and the marathon. Maybe it's because I did the 12 but the marathon seemed a little like a non-event - not too many of the 12k runners were supporting the marathoners as they headed up past Esplanade station which was very dissapointing. There were more people handing out water than spectators, and this was the leaders!

The start seemed better handled this year, but reports I have heard suggest that the clothing drop off and pickup was a fiasco. I didn't use the service, but I'm sure Biscuitman will have more to say on that subject. Not having km markers was a shocking oversight especially for the marathon and half marathon. Apparantly the women's winner went the wrong way because she thought she had to go on Perry Lakes Dr. Losing your lead woman in a race is pretty inexcusable too....