Sydney is an absolutely beautiful and charming city, so I thought that this Marathon would be a good excuse to come to Australia. Unfortunately, the organization of this Marathon was quite poor. They knew that the weather would be very warm, up to 85F/30C, so they moved to an earlier start... the 10K and the Half Marathon! Yes, shorter races started earlier, but not the Marathon. Expo was small and not interesting at all. I didn't see a single fruit on the Marathon course, no bananas, no oranges, nothing, just water and sport drinks. I ran this time slower than usual due to a hot weather, and when I finished (definitely not the last one!), there was nothing at the finish line other than bottles of water (when I wanted to take two bottles, a volunteer told me 'only one bottle per runner!'). Most of the course was very hilly but beautiful, but running a loop after a loop in the Centennial Park was very boring. The Sydney Marathon is supposedly a Candidate Race for the Marathon Majors. I ran all of them, and I expected in Sydney so much more!

The race started by cross the Sydney bridge. It ended by the side of Sydney Opera House. Both are Sydney landmarks. People were enthusiastic to the event. Volunteers were cheerful and helpful along the way. There were plenty of water stations. For marathoners, there were three stations loaded with GU. The weather were idea for running, although a rain began after 2+ hours of the race started. There were about 4000 Marathon runners. This is a small race consider the number of runners in this large city. The organizers had well coordinated with the city subway system. On the running day, the subway ride is free for all runners. The start point and the end point are fair close to subway stations. Still, things can be better. (1) get bib. The expo last for four days in the city center. However, it closed at 4:00pm on Saturday, the day before the race. It was some struggle for me as my air landed Sydney around 1:30pm on that day. On the race day, I found that I could get my bib right before the race. The information was not provided. (2) loop back route Except the start and the finish section, the course is boring. Majority sections are composed by loop back and forth routes. A large section of the route is to loop around the same park with back and forth route. The route definitely limits the grow of this event. (3) baggage claim after finish The finish area were chaotic. It took a long time to get out of the crowded service area. It was windy, cold in the finish area. The runners were soaked by the cold rain. There were no sign leading to the baggage claim in the finish area. After I asked around several people, finally I found that the baggage claim area was quite a long distance away.

Despite lots of double-backing of the course, the sites and terrain kept it interesting. Expo and post-race could use some help. Pros: - First time in Sydney, and it was a great way to see the highlights - Not pancake flat, but not super hilly.. but gradual hills, that because there was a lot of turn-arounds, you could look forward to a downhill at some point. - Course was well marked, aid stations were well stocked and frequent enough (but see below for cons of aid stations). It was nice to have a water table, electrolyte table, followed by another water table at some stops. - The start easy to get to via public transport/train and well serviced with bag drop and port-a-potties - Convenient that your bib was your ticket on public transport - Great support the last 2Kms along the wharf to the finish at the Opera House Cons: - Expo was very disappointing considering it was a seemingly large event. It was at the Town Hall, and I literally walked away with my bib number, clear bag for bag-drop and Gu's that I purchased.. no hard copy of the event guide (which, I am all about saving paper, but since I am from overseas w/ no mobile data plan, I should have downloaded a copy for access to last minute details), no marketing for other nearby events, minimal products like magic stick or energy supplements.. - Aid stations: personally, plastic cups aren't ideal. paper cups you can squeeze to funnel and [attempt] to drink and run. Some stations had people handing water out, others you grabbed from the table.. just was not consistent. - Post-race: very poorly stocked and marked. Upon finishing you got your medal, offered a bottle of water, and then lined up to a table of oranges, and then boxes of finisher t-shirts.. Either I didn't see it, but there was nothing else.. no space/mylar/silver blankets (and it was drizzling about 1/2way through the race), no bananas, no chocolate milk.. nothing.. I also must have missed the sign that directed you to where bag drop was because I ended up climbing a bunch of stairs and walking through the post-race tent area for spectators, vendors, teams, pre-paid stuff, to finally find the bag drop.. where they were already cleaning up ? - Last 10-12kms (when you inevitably hit the wall) was especially taxing because it was mostly motorway of overpasses/underpasses and you can hear/see the finish but still have that last bit to go.. Then again, that last bit is never easy but if there was more spectator access, it would be nice to have more cheering. All in all, I would recommend with caution.. if you have never visited Sydney and also want to run.. go for it! I did PR, so it couldn't be that bad, right? But I would not go out of my way for it as for it is a fairly pricey race and you don't get a lot for the money.