City2Surf Hangover

By Oliver Hanson.

14km. Hot pavement. Sweat… a lot of sweat. It’s not really up my alley to be brutally honest. The City2Surf has just finished and I’m standing here with a beer in my hand having successfully not run the race. My race involves hand to mouth exercises and a schooner of cold beer. The Bondi Hotel has been hosting the unofficial after party of the race for a few years now. It’s loose in here, so this could well be true.

The streets are jammed packed, 82,000 people just descended on Bondi turning it into one hell of a party. A sweaty kind of party, dense with active wear. The City2Surf is the biggest fun run in Sydney and it looked glorious watching the runners come through the finish, the sun out, the ocean in the background. Very cool, indeed.

The race raised $4.5million in funds to help support more than 550 charities. A mighty cause which has been ‘running’ since 1971… sorry couldn’t help myself. The race also brings a huge beer-buying injection, with thousands of racers coming in hot for a well-earned refreshment. Local bars and coffee shops have one of their biggest trading days of the year and it’s easy to see how.

It’s important to keep your belly full when drinking beer. For an almighty feed I snuck into Monty’s sandwich shop for a Bondi icon on Glenayr Avenue. The Reubenesque is a 12-hour slow cooked beef brisket sandwich. The owner tells me it’s pretty popular, so I’m sold. It kicked ass and sorted me out for the next stop.

I approached the Beach Road Hotel at around 1pm and the place was already jam packed. After filtering through the choc-a-block crowd, I knew I was going to enjoy this. The vibe was electric and truly thrusting. On par with The Swan Hotel in Melbourne on grand final day or the Church in East London, awesome stuff. They serve not only your standard pub fare, but a great selection of bottled beer from around the world. I couldn’t help myself and ordered a Blue Moon from Colorado – it was a throwback to an hazy American adventure… ahh Colorado.

City2Surf is one of Bondi’s biggest attractions. Not only does it play a part in keeping local business alive, it raises millions for charities and helps to keep thousands in shape. This has got to be one of the most enjoyable, entertaining and damn right loose events in Australia.

If you didn’t get amongst it this year, make sure you do in 2017.