Sydney 10km
I’d been meaning to write this for a while, but I finally found a moment to reflect on what was an awesome day — the Sydney 10K, part of this year’s Sydney Marathon Festival. This was the first year Sydney joined the World Marathon Majors, and you could really feel it. The crowds were huge, the energy was incredible, and even though we were running the 10K, we got to soak up that same big-race buzz.
This one was special because I ran it with my son, Sebastian. He did it last year and ran around 47 minutes, so his goal this time was to beat that. I was aiming to go under 40 minutes — something I’d been wanting to do for a while.
Training had gone pretty well. I’d just come off a marathon, so the endurance was there, and we’d been doing some track work together. I’d also recently gone under 20 minutes for a 5K parkrun, so I knew I had a bit of speed in the legs. The day before, we kept it light — a short 3K jog (our usual “Loose Loop”), good hydration, and a solid dinner.
Race morning was an early one — alarms at 4:30 a.m. to beat the road closures. We drove in, parked, and caught the train across, with enough time to watch the marathon leaders fly past. Seeing how quick they were really got us in the zone.
When it was finally our turn, we both felt relaxed and ready. I didn’t have a strict plan — just go out hard and try to hang on. As soon as we started down the hill, Sebastian shot past me with a big grin, running way faster than I expected! I hit 5K in 18:30, realised I might’ve gone out a bit hot, but managed to hold on through the hills and finish in 39:24 — finally under 40 minutes.
Sebastian came through just behind me in 41:54, smashing more than five minutes off his PB from last year. Pretty amazing effort for a 10K.
We both finished the race stoked — perfect weather, great crowds, and that unbeatable feeling of hitting your goals. Running side by side and seeing him push himself made it one of those days I’ll remember for a long time.
We’ll definitely be back next year for another crack.