Review: My Sun-Herald City2Surf Sydney VR 14km 2021

Over a span of 50 years, Australia’s Sun-Herald City2Surf Sydney, organised by IRONMAN, has transformed from a local road race into the world’s largest 14km fun run and a bucket-list event for participants not only in Sydney, but around the world.

City2Surf is more than a race

Whether you run, walk or jog the 14km course from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach, City2Surf is about more than the mileage. It is about having fun with family, friends and thousands of others, while also raising money for charity.

2021 City2Surf VR

This 2021, City2Surf took place as a virtual race, from Sunday 17 October to Sunday 24 October.

The virtual format was due to the continued lockdown in Sydney as a result of the Covid19 pandemic.

For the virtual race, runners were allowed to run anywhere they wanted – except on the actual running course. The reason was to prevent overcrowding and encourage social distancing.

I lived in Sydney for about two years and whilst there, I used to hear a lot about the City2Surf running event. However I wasn’t a runner at the time, so I had never joined the race.

So the 2021 event presented a perfect opportunity for me to take part in the event, even though I was located many miles away in sunny Singapore.

My Race

I clocked the 14km on Sunday 17th October, completing the distance in one go around Singapore’s Marina Bay Area.

We began running at the Red Dot Design Museum and did a full loop of the bay area.

This is one of the most scenic areas of Singapore, taking you past many local landmarks such as the Sports Hub, F1 Pit Building, Float @ Marina Bay and the Marina Bay Sands.

Well… and I guess the ArtScience Museum did have some passing resemblance to the Sydney Opera House, somewhat transporting me to Sydney for a few fleeting seconds.

The City2Surf “hill”

I have heard a lot about the famous hill at the actual Sydney City2Surf route, and while there were no step hills on the route that I was running, I suppose that the Marina Barrage bridge can somewhat count as a “hill”.

A warm morning

It was a warm morning in Singapore and the sun came out about halfway during the run. I stopped for a water and photo break at the Marina breakwater behind the barrage, which was around the 11km point, before continuing.

Race app was seamless

I used the official race app to clock my run and this was pretty seamless. There were no issues with regards to the app, and it synced quite well with my Garmin in terms of the distance, differing by only a couple of hundred metres.

The race app cheered me on at strategic points along my run, such as 5km and 10km, with messages of encouragement.

It wasn’t much but I thought this was pretty motivating.

I finished the 14km back at the Red Dot Design Museum. The planned loop had been just right.

The app said that I was finished and started cheering with congratulatory messages when my Garmin read 13.8km, but I decided to complete the final 200 meters anyway, to round things off.