Sydney Marathon Review

The Good the bad and the indifferent.  

The Sydney Marathon offered pre-ordering for all of their gear. In retrospect, that was everybody's best course of action.  Expo on the first day was complete and utter chaos.  People fighting for Asics gear, In lines taking upwards of 3 hours to get through. 

On day two, they did restock many items and had placed dividers to more efficiently move people through lines.  Comparing it to Boston or New York on the second day: crowded but organized. 

Like some of the other major expos, they had the title sponsor section and then other sponsors section.  It was great to have some local vendors as well, like TriMob and PILLAR just to name a few. (Spoiler alert I will also do a review if PILLAR recovery salts after I can find where to purchase it in the US!)

Start with fairly well organized.  I say fairly well as I'm comparing it to other majors. 

Three start waves, each wave that's three colors, each color had several corrals. 

The different color corrals allowed each wave to have different restroom and staging areas.  They definitely could have used more porta potties.  The three staging areas were the best ideals in the local area, I feel they would have benefited of adding an additional wave.  If they increase the numbers to 40,000 they definitely would need another wave.

Leave North Sydney and run South to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Harbour and the Sydney Opera House. 

The crowds may not be as large as some of the other Majors, but they do crank up the fun factor.  The second half of the course was scattered with DJs and bands hyping up both the runners and clouds.

The second half of the course runs through scenic parks and the botanical gardens. Sound beautiful? Except the course is full if ups and downs; literal up and down hills for the last 6 miles, making this the toughest of the current world Major Marathons, but finishing at the beautiful Sydney Opera House.