Fraser Darcy

After finishing Part 1 of the NSWE, the Hounslow Classic, I hopped back into my little hire car and dropped back down into Sydney for Part 2, the Sydney Marathon. I wasn’t racing but in a very proud family moment, my little sister and number one sibling fan of the blog, Georgia, was.

I’ve always been keen to share my running with more people in my immediate family and Georgia has been the first one to dip her toes into the running scene since leaving school. How would she go? Nobody knows! While she is good at organising birthday presents for family members Georgia is less good at consistent, steady training. There was a half marathon in Clare in April, some random 20-30km long runs and 30-40km weeks but it was all done with no real rhyme or reason in between niggling injuries (caused from her inconsistent and unsteady training).

Did that matter to Georgia? No not really. She was keen as a bean to experience a marathon, do it in Sydney and do it with some other friends who were travelling there. I like to think she had this positive attitude because she has been subliminally messaged from reading my blog for so long that she ‘gets’ what running a marathon is about. But that theory does neglect Georgia’s own ability to plan and decide something was worth doing and enjoy it along the way.

Up early on Sunday morning it was nice for me to be attending a marathon without having the race nerves that go with it. Georgia definitely had them. Plus her breakfast. Then we were off around 5:15. First stop, out the front was Jeremy from the Lactic Chats podcast. Also nervous, but excited, we headed off on foot to catch the train into the Sydney. Third musketeer, Jake, met us on the train in Bondi Junction along with what felt like a few hundred other runners. The atmosphere was already buzzing with runners and it was only 5:38am. Sydney is aiming to be on the same scale as New York, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo, Boston and London as a World Major (equivalent to the tennis grand slams) in 2025 so had pushed the advertising budget to get more runners in this year. It had certainly paid off.

Changing trains at Town Hall we joined in with a few other hundreds runners and squeezed onto an already full train. Shit, this is bigger than I expected. If I hope to race a major marathon one day this experience of travelling via train with everyone was good practice for that day. Unfortunately for Georgia, Jeremy and Jake this was all happening for them ON race day, not practice race day. They handled it alright. I bailed once we arrived at the start area knowing they had made it there. My job from now was to see as much as I could along the course and offer some occasional words of encouragement.

Back on the train over the Sydney Harbour Bridge (yeah, twice in one day, how cool!) I was back amongst a quieter amount of people and was feeling less like I was missing out on race day and more enthused about my little mission. I jogged out to a spot on course via the 10km drink station and was amazed at the amount of cups and volunteers organised. Plus I got to inspect all the elite bottles including that of Brett Robinson, my For The Kudos podcast boss.

I kept jogging along the course all the way to the 5km drink station and waited here for a while. There was another bloke also with a trail running vest on and we got chatting about how good the day was going to be. We were also amazed at how the elite bottles seemed to be put in a weird, hard to see spot. I made a few comments to an official and she begrudgingly moved a few out of the way of a sign. It still didn’t seem great but hey, it’s their race. The wheelchair athletes came rolling through shortly after and the smile on my face was massive. Seeing the flashing lights of the car leading them out, plus the cyclists accompanying them and then the guns on the guy in front charging up the hill. That’s elite racing. That’s what you don’t see every day. That’s what I’m here to watch.

A few more wheelies came through and then the real show. A pack of twenty-ish Africans like an AFL team bursting through the banner. In charge and in the middle of the road this is the best long distance running gets (kind of, they weren’t the cream of the crop Africanos). As they got closer it was clear they couldn’t see their drinks from their angle of view. Sure enough, most of them missed it and a few turned back to grab them. Oh uh. Can’t let that happen to Brett. He was off the back of the lead pack but had a few other Africans with him for company. As he got closer, still in the middle of the road I called out to him and handed him his bottle so he didn’t have to turn around. Wow, that was cool. But a bit shit from the organisers. Can’t let that happen at the 10km mark.

Instead of hanging around at the 5km for Georgia and crew I legged it the 10km point. I had planned a neat little table out with where I could maximise all my vantage points given the expected paces of everyone I wanted to follow would be but that went out the window as soon as I realised I could be of assistance to the elites.

Back at the 10km mark I saw the lead pack roll through and again some of them hit a bit of congestion grabbing their bottles. Not Brett this time though. With it being a hot day the last thing I’d want as a runner would be to miss my first two bottles (which kind of happened at Heysen) so it was nice to be able to offer assistance. I didn’t rush off from the 10km mark this time and relaxed into watching the lead female runner, Sinead Diver, roll through along with all the other Aussie elites/sub-elites. It was cool watching people I might be able to compete with at these big interstate races. They’re no different to me really, just probably a bit more experience which I need to get in the marathon still.

The next person to keep an eye out for was big Jeremy. Rolling through with the 3hr pace group it was cool to see him on top early. He didn’t feel it though he said. Ah well, keep giving it a bash and you never know what’ll happen I tried to convey with my ‘looking good!’ comment. Georgia was a little further back and looking good on the tracking app so I decided to jog down to the 16km area to get another glimpse at the lead athletes. Again, very cool to see them striding it out and really cool to see how many supporters were starting to fill out on course.

After that initial excitement in the first forty-five minutes, things quietened down a bit. I had a few km’s to jog down towards Centennial Park to do and enjoyed the luxury of no traffic on the roads to be able to do so. The course around the Centennial Park had lots of loops and double-backs so standing in one point would allow me to see the runners several times. It was just after 8 o’clock when I made it to the corner of Moore Park Rd and Driver Avenue and found a nice spot in the shade. The heat was already noticeable so even me being a spectator, I was making sure I was standing in the shade, drinking water from my vest and conserving energy. Those in the race who weren’t keeping on top of that, or who had gone too hard, paid for it by the end… if they made it.

While hanging around this spot on course I got chatting to a couple of other spectators and was able to educate them on how the race was playing out and who the lead Aussie elites were. As a sports nuffy it’s frustrating that the general public, who clearly appreciates running if they’re spectating the marathon, has no idea about our top long-distance runners. Disappointingly much won’t change in this space unless news bulletin’s start covering races better. I watched the CIty-Bay (Adelaides premier race) clip on 9News this morning and it took until the very end to get a mention of the winners who didn’t even have their names read out, just their accolades mentioned. I’m guessing the same would’ve happened with Sydney.

Back to the race though. The elites had all come through my little section and I was hanging around to catch a glimpse of Georgia for the first time. Jeremy pulled through and had thought he’d blown up but was still going alright. Then a bit longer after that, George came through looking very fresh with a big smile on her face. Cool, we could be on here for a good finish. I legged it down the road to try and catch up with Harry and Sus, and along the way saw a couple of people dropping out around the 34km mark. Things were starting to get brutal.

Cutting through Centennial Park I bumped into Georgia and ran next to her for a bit. 27km’s down, she was feeling it a bit she said but that’s to be expected. Again, I said she was looking good and then left her to it. My body was going ok with all this jogging around (I clocked 20km of running/walking by the end) but I was getting pretty hot and bothered. Finally made it to Harry and Sus and just as I was about to say hello I saw my other For the Kudos boss Joel! Quick chat, a bit of business chat and then introduced him to Harry and Sus as well. Very cool to be hanging out in Sydney watching an elite marathon and just casually bumping into mates! Georgia came past us not long after, still smiling, still cruising, and heading off towards the Opera House finish line. I had the option to jog back in that direction as well or jump on the back of Harry and Susie’s plans to train it in. That option appealed better. Didn’t require me staring at Google Maps and meant I could rest and reload for the finish line a bit. And catch-up on what was going down at the front of the race with the tracking app.

Sitting in the air-conditioned train was luxury. Finished my water, rested my mind, chatted with Harry and Sus a bit and then bam, out the gates we went. Harry and Susie stopped to stand and watch Georgia near the finish line while I knew that it’s very anti-climatic doing that so instead I made my way through the crowds to be in the post-race area. If for some reason Georgia had cooked herself in the last little bit the first thing she’d appreciate was someone helping her get some water, get some shade and get comfortable.

Three hours and forty-five minutes after she started though, Georgia came through the finish line area still cruising (relatively speaking) and still smiling. She’d done it! Pulled it off! A 3:45 marathon on her first attempt off minimal training and well under her baseline goal of 4 hrs! Ok she was a little tired and hot and bothered but relatively speaking to the zombie’s around us, she was great! Marathons and long distance races have so many different ways they can play out so for Georgia to have such a positive experience on her first attempt was incredible and is a testament to her ability to rationally adjust her expectations. As we wandered through the ‘recovery zone’ at the end we topped off her day by bumping into Brett and congratulating him with his race. Not every marathon you do will be as good as this George, and certainly not every marathon you do will you get to meet one of your idols. YOU DID THIS TIME THOUGH!

Also at the end with us chatting to Brett was Harry and Sus and Jeremy and Jake plus some of their mates. Jezza hadn’t had the race he wanted but still managed to enjoy it. Listening to his podcast recapping the race with George, missing his 3 hr time goal has certainly motivated him to come back in 12 months time and have another crack at it showing he understands that running marathons is a long term game.

Once things had died down a bit Harry, Sus, George and myself headed back to Woollahra. I was cooked a bit and now without a race to follow and anything to stay alert for, I was able to switch off mentally and physically. I finished off the prawn pasta leftovers, had a shower, debriefed a bit more with Georgia and then before I knew it, it was time to head to the airport. In a perfect world, beers at a Sydney beach with Brett and Joel would’ve been nice but I had work on Monday to be back for. Easier to start the week off teaching rather than being hungover and then chasing my tail. Plus, I also suspect there’ll be more occasions where I’m travelling interstate or overseas for marathons and can make a real holiday trip out of it.

At the airport I had what is becoming a customary tradition this year of enjoying a beer at the airport (or on the plane) and reflected on how good my NSWE was. With so many moving parts, this weekend could’ve gone a lot more pear shaped. There’s things that I wish went better but that’s life and it’s also motivation to come back and do better next time. I have a bit more to unpack from my whole trip but I’ll make that a separate blog. This one here is about being apart of Georgia’s successful Sydney Marathon experience and the message it sends.

The marathon was originally all about a message to be sent (Pheidippides’s) and Georgia’s run was no different. For someone who hadn’t contemplated being a marathoner she can now confidently tell herself, and others, that she has done a marathon. Because of where the marathon sits in today’s culture and the respect people give to it, this means a fair bit. To me, and hopefully her, it means that next time she’s looking for a bit of belief in herself she can reflect on her experience in preparing and completing the Sydney Marathon and know that she’s capable of pushing herself. She doesn’t need to become a serious runner now, or do more marathons or anything crazy, she can simply keep doing her thing with the extra confidence that her performance can give her. Where that confidence takes her is anyone’s guess but one thing is for sure, if she smiles as much as she did on Sunday along the way in life she’ll be doing some even cooler things than just running a marathon.