Earlier start than normal today as I had to drive over to Enda’s gaff first, met a little before 6am and besides Enda was greeted with Dave ‘Clarkey’ Clarke. With Barts deciding not to come and preferring to stay with the North Shore men and choke on the fumes of Pittwater Road, Clarkey was more than a worthy replacement for the morning.
Tough start heading up out of Bondi getting to the park after 6ks to meet the team for the 6.30am start, C.T , The Sweaty (Craig) and the ever improving Corky’ O’Conner braved the downpour and were set to go as we hit out on the City to Surf course again for the 2nd time in as many weeks. Picked up Jeet, Pommy Birchy, and Skinny Doctor Ant at Rushcutters along the way, felt pretty good I must say as we hogged the coast line around Catalina before the ‘Chinese Detective’ (Michael Ho) did a Ray Wareham and appeared from the bushes?
Cruising along near the private Cranbrook School nicely chatting away to Clarkey and Enda , when all of a sudden we hear a big ‘Thud’ …turn around and see Craig Wiseman face down kissing the concrete. Apparently one of the school kids dropped their 50c dinner money on Friday and in an attempt to collect it went ‘@r$e over T!t. Now the Jocks may be tight but they make em tough in Glasgow he wasn’t to be deterred and we were soon on the way again.
First big climb came at Heartbreak, seemed to fly past as we turned off ¾ of the way up and headed down to Watsons Bay Hotel , taking in the sensational Parsley Bay on the way.
Another big climb out, around the coastal path coming out at the 10k mark at City to Surf before the decent down back to Bondi, Clarkey , Enda and myself opened up a little at this point and finished the morning strongly as the others knew they still had the climb back out from Bondi after that. Ended up at the Nth Bondi Surf club in 1hr.55 and with no watch Enda told me we were good for 24.5ks all up
Happy with that , although after a quick glance out to the water and my fears for the morning were just about to start with what lay ahead in the 1k swim
Back to Enda’s post run and quality breakfast was served up by ‘Angel’ Ange , who also told me more about Enda’s ‘Nana Naps’ he knocks out every day, before the real drama started…….. Upon leaving Enda then made the call ‘NOT TO SWIM ‘ citing too rough conditions and conceded defeat even without leaving his lounge room??
Walked down to the beach and met up with ‘The Salmon’ (Sammy J) and Olivia, good chat with them although my nerves were hitting fever pitch by now ( actually think Olivia feared for me at one stage?) as I really didn’t fancy my chances in the horrific surf ? Saw J.C and his 2 twin 11 year olds who looked as calm as anything and before long we were off.
First buoy took an age as I battled the waves and breakers and I thought my time was up even just getting to it, Settled a little after that, and once I hit the 2nd one I knew the easier leg for home lay ahead of me. Got passed by plenty including loads of girls who started in waves behind me but was more than happy to find sand beneath my feet and cross the line in 20.38 Found my way to find Sammy J who had a good swim in 18.2x (?) and then met J.C who did even better with a 14.05, Thought I may have even got close the Twins times but then sheepishly walked away when I found out they both did 17.25 – unbelievable.
Brilliant morning all round even allowing for tough run conditions with the rain & hills not to mention nearly dying a thousand deaths over the course of 20 minutes in the swimming,……….. think I’ve earned those Sunday arvo beers once again.
Have a good one
It normally looks a lot better in the brochures ? 30ft waves meant a battle lay ahead J
It was never going to be pretty, but at least with a ‘little heart’ I got through it
And when all else fails, you can always rely on a win over Enda, who refused to come out from his lounge room to swim after his heart gave way just looking at the surf conditions. J
Those waves look like monsters mate.
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