Last 3rd of May, the first Saturday of this month, we had our 2nd fun run of the year. It was yet the best running event I’ve ever been to since I started this running craze of ours. It was one of the craziest runs ever! We braved the freezing weather!!!
It was the Nike She Runs 2014 held at the Centennial Parklands, Sydney. This event has a lot of firsts! First event that gave out free Singlet, first night run, first run in Centennial Park, first event with LOTS of freebies and first run without a medal. Hahaha!
I arrived a bit early than usual and I’m happy I did. They really set up the mood for the run and it was crazy. The moment I step inside the event village, all I muttered was “WOW”. Hahaha! Huge signs and happy ushers were there to help and assist you that day. They gave out free bobby bins, hair elastics, blistex lip balm and a free spray of Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume. Amazing, isn’t it?
Then I went to the baggage area to check in my bag for spare stuff. I just brought with me my phone, timing chip and jumper. Since I’m early, I still have time to check the whole village. The first thing you’ll see is the big trampoline that they set up in the middle of the event place.
The next thing would probably be the large “SHE RUNS” signage where they printed all the names of the girls who participated in the run that night. I was looking for my name in “M” since my last name is Madula but they put it in A!!! Why? I registered as Kathleen Anne Madula and they thought that my last name was Anne. And not only that, my last name was spelled wrongly. It was spelt Mandula instead of Madula. But nevertheless, I appreciate the effort. Not to self, I will register with only my first name in the next runs.
Then it would be the photo area where you take a picture of you and represent your hood. Since I’m staying at Northern area of Sydney, I took a photo there and made it as my race photo. When my friends arrived, I again took a photo since we’re all on the same side of the Sydney.
The next thing would be the Nike Store! That night, everything was on special. A 20% discount for all the items that they were selling in that store. I was also an instant model when I had a photo with a staff taken by the official photographer. I look so happy in the picture! Hahaha!
There were exercise areas where you can do your warm ups and cool downs before and after the run. There were food stalls, table and chairs as well as heat posts everywhere. Thank goodness!
About 15mins before the run starts, a group warm up was done by one of the organisers. She was up on stage and we’re all following her. We’re just waiting for our group to be called before we can walk and start the race.
After some time, we started to walk to the starting line and before we knew it, we’re already starting the race!
As mentioned, it was freezing that night so air was thin as well. I was having a hard time to breathe and the race has just started. It was not even 1 km yet! I really thought I couldn’t make it. I told my friends to move along and we’ll just meet after somewhere. After a number of stops, I finally found my pace. I also felt that my knees and ankles were hurting probably because of the cold weather. It was really a struggle.
Along the course of the race, there were a number of entertainments were there to booze up everyone’s energy! There were cheerleaders, bands, disco lights (that was very annoying by the way) and group of people holding cheering card board signs. It was really nice except for the disco lights. I suddenly remembered the “The Mummy” or the “Space Mountain” ride in Universal Studios. It really made me dizzy and have to concentrate where I’m running coz I might end up going in circles or something.
I finished the race, 3 mins after my friends finished the run. It’s not that bad coz I beat my 10k run time in The Sun Run. The official time was 1:12:24 for 10km!
After the run, we all got a water bottle from Nike and got a free massage as well. There was free cleansing juice from Lucky You Cleanse while we queue to the massage area.
It was really a great night sans the cold windy weather. I’m excited for the next year’s Nike She Runs!
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