Good video and spot on about the points. Looks like that took note.

@runwithwoody

2 ай бұрын

Cheers, mate. I'm glad it's a standalone event now, but I reckon they can do more with the course. There's still a lot of 180 turns.

Going down in Sept for the 2024 Sydney Marathon. I see they’ve changed the course, scrapped the half and brought the start time forward.

@runwithwoody

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, great move having it as a standalone. Still a lot of 180 turns on course, but looks better layout than last year. Good luck with the preparation.

Agreed on all points. I ran a pb and a negative split at Sydney in the Mara and felt that it was a great event.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Awesome work mate and congrats on the PB. That was a mighty effort in those conditions.

Great work Neil, I hope for Sydney's sake they get there. It was a tough day out there in those conditions. I consider myself lucky as my knee decide at about 13kms it didn't want me to run, so by 17 or 18kms I gave up on a good finish, there was plenty of walking. Not a good run for me only taking 2hrs longer to finish than I'd planned. Still happy I wasn't one of the many that didn't manage the conditions. Maybe I've not run enough Marathons, but the number of people needing medical attention just highlighted how easy it is to get in trouble if you're not listening to your body.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Hi mate, hope that knee has settled down. A real bummer that it didn't cooperate with you on race day, but sounds like you took the sensible approach. I'm not sure how many 30 degree days we will get in September in future, but having the marathon on its own and starting at 6am will help a little.

Good video Neil and I agree with all those points. One of our runners started 25 minutes after the gun in the marathon due to the toilet queues. They need a course that uses full width roads even if not as scenic. Get rid of the 10k and half, start the marathon at 6am, heat can always be a problem in September.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Thanks Ewen. I really hope they survey the runners because I'm sure those issues will be at the top of the list. For me, and if they are serious about becoming a World Major, the marathon has to be a standalone. Look how good Berlin was over the weekend.

I agree. I ran the marathon and got a new PB. But the toilets were definitely an issue. The start time wasn’t smart considering it was going to be a hot day and they knew it would be. Some parts of the course were really tight which impacted on my pace and overall time due to the congestion of slower runners. Centennial park went far too long. I did like the ending though heading towards the opera house. That was something special. Hopefully they fix things for next year.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Congrats on the PB, that's a huge run in those conditions. A few runners said the same thing about Centennial Park. It will be interesting to see what course changes they make next year.

Good comments Neil. I ran this year and went out too fast for the hot day - was cooked at the back end. My fault - not the organisers, but am happy to put my hand up and say when it got too much was happy to walk rather than have something happen to me. The race director has already admitted that the course for 2023 will require changes as it was at capacity (In the final Sydney Marathon Podcast for 2023). Interesting to see what they come up with for next year. Great to have your insights.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing Roger about the race director. Having watched Berlin on Sunday did show that Sydney has a way to go. So changes for 2024 will be interesting.

I think there is a lot of learning. I believe mid september history has being either hot or good weather. I still believe separate days and moving the date to be early september or late August for better climate. Also the course should be change. I feel they try too hard to showcase with so many landmarks which also adds so much turns and elevation gain of 350m. I would appreciated to have elevation gain around 250m or less if possible.

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Some really good points there. Separate days makes sense if they want to continue down the running festival line - not sure how that would go with road closures etc. Also, having it a week before Berlin is probably not ideal, so a move to August would make sense.

Sure was a hard one out there 😅especially for my first marathon but was all great memories found the whole race great I got worst cramps last 5 km I am going do Melbourne full marathon in 23 days next 🤩

@runwithwoody

10 ай бұрын

Congrats on your first marathon, and look at you backing up to do Melbourne. Don't overdo it between now and Melbourne, recovery is king for over the next 20 days or so.

@xsaba187

10 ай бұрын

@@runwithwoody yes think I will do a easy 25 km run tomorrow for last long run till Melbourne