Dave & Dana in Australia

A brief update to clarify for those who doubted that I would survive a 14 km run - you were only part right.  I did run the whole way (finishing in 1 hour 37 minutes), although I ran quite slowly.  This was partly just pacing but also because I shared the course with 63,000 other people and didn’t even cross the start line until 7 minutes in!  My time placed me in 18,619th.   Given that I don’t think I’ve run that far since I was about 15 years old (and even then I have my doubts), I’m quite proud of myself!

The run itself was a blast - it’s a carnival atmosphere where everyone is in a good mood, there are bands playing on the side of the course, lots of runners in costumes (too many Borat bathing suit runners), plenty of supporters cheering you on, etc.  The last 2 km of the course winds its way down to the incomparable Bondi Beach and the 50,000 or so people at the finish line.  I will definitely do this again given the opportunity, although I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a marathon runner.

A quick update on what we’ve been up to - not really too much since our last post.  Busy with work for both of us but finding time to keep fit and relax around Manly (it is winter, but sunny and 15 isn’t so bad).  What we have done is finish up our plans for travel for the remainder of the year, which we’re quite excited about.

In late August we travel to Christchurch to visit with Dana’s grandmother for her 90th birthday for a few days.  Her Mom, Dad and Aunt will also be there and there will be a number of nice celebrations.  After that we’ll have time to spend four days in the Southern Alps skiing near Wanaka before flying back to Sydney.

In late September I’m slated to be at a work conference in London.  Mercer is nice enough to let me trade in my business class ticket for two economy tickets so Dana will join me.  We’ll catch a Premier League soccer game and see a museum or two before Dana flies down to Southern Spain to hike in the Sierra Nevada and I work for the week.  I will then join her in Granada and we’ll spend a week travelling in Andalucia.

Finally, we decided to use some of points to travel over the Christmas break and have booked flights to Adelaide.  First we’ll spend four or five days camping on Kangaroo Island, just of the Southern Coast of Australia, hiking and wildlife watching.  Then we’ll travel back North of Adelaide into the Barossa wine valley for a few days in somewhat nicer accomodation, including New Years.

I’ve also done something a bit silly - I signed up at the last minute for the Sydney City to Surf fun run which travels 14 km from Hyde Park in downtown to Bondi Beach and is famous for a punishing hill about 2/3 of the way through.  I’m not much of a runner, so that’s quite a long way, I’ve left it until super late and will only be able to do about two sizeable training runs but all the same it’s one of those things I’d like to say I’ve done.  Wish me luck!