City2Surf 2007

My 4th City2Surf in a row. As usual, I'm with the (Soul) Back of the Pack. I wonder when I can quality for the SH2 group, for people who finished between 75 and 99 minutes last year.

This year, the race started an hour earlier at 9am. The Back of the Pack started running around 9:30am. It was a glorious day - the sun was out, but not too hot. My only complaint is that the walkers and slow runners are all over the place. I mean, people should stay on the left lanes unless they are overtaking - just like on the escalators and expressways.

Maybe it's because I started a little in front of the pack, but I noticed less people who dressed up this year. You still have the fairies, the guys in full body-color, guys wearing only buggie smugglers, etc. This year we also have the ANZ ATM, runners from the Sydney Children's Hospital hoisting a kid strapped on a stretcher, and Borat in his trademark neon green thong also made an appearance.

I finished with a time of 2:01:10. That still has to be adjusted for the late start. By my own reckoning, I finished the race in 90 minutes, but we'll see what the official time is when the results are announced/published on Tuesday.

After the race, it's off to Swiss Grand Hotel for lunch buffet with the P&G guys. A lot of the people are already there, and I believe my sister dropped in an hour later. Then, it's a kilometer-long queue for the buses to the city. I personally don't mind standing in the cold in my T-shirt and shorts, but it really bothers me that some people still have the gall to cut in pretend they didn't know there's a queue. The more outspoken ones in the line would admonish them, yet they suddenly go deaf in the hearing. I was telling the couple behind me that maybe we should've headed straight for the buses half an hour ago, and be done with it. In the end, it's all about doing the right thing.