Sun Run: 7km Run

This morning I participated in the Sun Run which is a 7km run from Dee Why Beach to Manly Beach. It's the first major running event of the year in Sydney, after there not being any since last October/November. I didn't participate in the Sun Run last year because I didn't actually know about it and I only started entering running events in the middle of 2016. So it was good to add another one to the calendar. There is also a 10km event which I'd usually enter instead. However, I thought I'd go with the 7km for something different because I've never selected that distance for an official running event before. I got some amazing sunrise pictures at the start line at Dee Why Beach. 

Originally I had the goal of running the 7km in under 35 minutes because that's less than 5 minutes per kilometre. I'm very comfortable with sub 5 minute kilometres for a 5km run now so wondered whether I could hold the pace for 7km. However, once I learned the course was incredibly difficult and hilly, I quickly adjusted my expectations. The course was incredibly tough, up there in terms of difficulty with the City 2 Surf (but of course only half the distance). If I'd known I would have tried to do some hill runs for training. There was even a huge hill a couple of hundred metres into the run which was mentally tough!

In the end I ran the course in 37 minutes and 40 seconds. Even thought it's slower than my average pace per kilometres for a 10km run, I can't be disappointed given the difficulty of the course. I've been to quite a few running events now and they are all reasonably similar. There would have been less participants than some of the events in the city which helped with the crowds. The course was very scenic and pretty, providing for great photo opportunities. It was an early morning start as I live far away from Manly (4.45am is a brutal wake up time for a Saturday morning!)  I've been to Manly three times in the last ten days when usually I wouldn't even go there once a year. I'd be up for giving it a try again next year.

What did you do this weekend?