Carmen Stephens and Kirsty McLennan will be just two among 85,000 tomorrow, but the Forbes participants in the Sun Herald City2Surf will be more than happy to blend in with the crowd.
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Carmen and a group of friends entered the 14km race for the first time last year, and she is keen to improve her time tomorrow, while Kirsty and her husband John will make their debut.
“None of us had run it before, so we really had no idea what to expect,” Carmen said of the group that entered last year.
“The atmosphere on the day was amazing, there was so much to look at and listen to along the way.
“There were people dressed up in costumes and even the spectators. I didn’t expect that,” Carmen said.
Kirsty McLennan says she has always wanted to walk the 14km to Bondi, but her husband John upped the ante.
“Walking the City2Surf has been on the 'to do' list for years so when I mentioned it to John he said 'we may as well run it!' and so the training began and here we are, entering our first run,” Kirsty said.
“It's been such an advantage living here with our beautiful lake to run around. We are so lucky, sometimes it's all the motivation that you need,” she said.
Carmen and Kirsty may have stood out from the crowd when the inaugural City2Surf was staged in August 1971, as women made up less than two per cent of the 2000 or so entrants.
In this 43rd year the proportion of female entrants has jumped dramatically, with women outnumbering men in the 2006 event.
While the two are unlikely to challenge Susie Power’s record women’s time of 45.08 minutes (set in 2001), they have their own goals.
“I had made a very uneducated guess at a time I’d like to finish in [last year], and crossed the finish line 29 seconds under that time,” Carmen said.
“This year I’ll be running with my sister who lives in Sydney.
“I’ve worked hard to be as fit as I can be this year, and have set myself a new goal to try and achieve to improve on last year’s time,” she said.
“It’s exciting,” Kirsty said. “I’ve always wanted to do it, since I was really young.”
FAST FACTS
* The City to Surf originated from an idea to replicate San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers run, after the Sun Herald’s US correspondent sent a newspaper clipping on the race to his editor back in Sydney.
* Thirty-seven people (all men) have run in all 42 races and will wear a special purple bib tomorrow.
* Steve Moneghetti still holds the record for the best time, 40.03 minutes in 1991. He has recorded three of the best five finishes ever.
* Seven’s Sunrise will broadcast live from the race for the first time tomorrow.