‘The whole crew is there’: City2Surf becomes race of the run clubs
By Sarah Berry
Before sunrise on Friday morning, a committed group of about 50 runners huddle beneath the Harbour Bridge before starting to run, jog or walk a six-and-a-half kilometre route to the Opera House and back.
It is 10 degrees and droplets of icy rain start to fall, but the mood is warm at the Unofficial Run Club, among the most popular of the hundreds of running clubs that have popped up across the country.
Club co-founder Sam Dreyfus addresses members of the Unofficial Run Club before their 6.5-kilometre dash.Credit: Sam Mooy
At their peak in 2024, the club had as many as 1600 runners coming from different parts of Sydney.
“People are just hungry for in-person connection,” said co-founder Sander Dalhuisen.
Fuelled in part by social run clubs and Parkrun, and initiatives like Running for Resilience, Australians are lacing up in record numbers. Running events, including next weekend’s Voltaren City2Surf, are selling out.
For the first time, City2Surf organisers the Ironman Group asked ticket holders whether they were part of a run club.
The Unofficial Run Club crosses Sydney Harbour as the sun rises on Friday morning. Credit: Sam Mooy
About 10 per cent of the event’s 90,000 registered runners said they were. At the Runaway Sydney Half Marathon in May, it was about 15 per cent.
Dalhuisen suspects it’s not an accurate reflection.
“Last year we had around 150 sign up [for the City2Surf],” he said, adding that about half of their members are participating in the Sydney marathon at the end of August.
Parkrun Australia founder Tim Oberg agrees. “I don’t think a lot of ‘Parkrunners’ would define it as a ‘run club’… it’s more of a community,” he said.
However defined, Oberg says it is a natural progression for Parkrun attendees to want to run an event.
“We talk about that as the ‘What’s next?’,” said Oberg, who now fronts child wellbeing program the Healthy Kids Project.
“Somebody starts a Parkrun, and they’re super nervous … within 12 months they’re signing up for half-marathons and other events.”
Dalhuisen and his four friends officially started the Unofficial Run Club in September 2023. At the time, they were not long-distance runners.
“We started at 5K,” he said. “And naturally, you start doing more.”
Dalhuisen said participating in an event as park of a club or community enhances the experience.
“Rocking up at City2Surf, you inevitably have to wait for half an hour just standing there. Knowing that you’re there with a run club, the whole crew is there, it will be a funner race. Crossing the finish line with others around you is a good feeling.”
Official City2Surf training program host, 98 Training athletic director Wade Farmer, said it had been “amazing” to watch run clubs “slowly but surely turning what was once a solo event into a team sport”.
Farmer said the City2Surf it requires a different approach to a half or full marathon.
“City2Surf is a very unique course; with its steep climbs and fast downhill sections,” he said.
“That said, the core principles of a middle distance race still apply. Avoid going out too hot, hydrate and fuel appropriately but most of all, enjoy the run!”
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