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Blackmores Sydney Marathon 2022

By Nicola Silsby

Plus Rejoov group results 50 runners+

My debut at the Blackmores marathon was unfortunately 3 years in the making thanks to Covid. Every year I had managed to get to the 36k mark in training only to have the event postponed in the final weeks leading up to it. But this year I finally made it to the start line!

The lead up to Blackmores had been an interesting one, with a very poorly planned trip to the UK to visit family, returning only 2 weeks before the race. But thanks to Greta’s training plan I managed to run (nearly!) all of the sessions and maintain the fitness I had built from Tuesday and Thursday’s at Centennial Park.

The last two weeks of training was a mixture of tapering and jet lag, however I was excited and felt strong heading to that start line. We could not have asked for more perfect race conditions with a beautiful sunrise and a clear sunny day. I knew whatever happened after the start gun, I had to embrace the incredible atmosphere and enjoy every moment.

I was incredibly lucky to have amazing support throughout the course, and seeing so many Rejoov singlets out there helped push me on. The first 20k I felt strong and I could feel those months of training paying off, but everyone has always said, the race starts at 32k, so I knew I had a long way to go.

Running around Pyrmont, it was so quiet and surprisingly hilly, I started to ask myself what on earth I was doing running a full, when half’s were just such a great distance! But turning into Darling harbour and knowing I had run this straight a hundred times before in training, I got my head down and wanted to finish strong.

I had a goal time in my head, but never having done the distance I had no idea what to expect, so when I ran past the 40k mark knowing I was close to the time, I had one last burst to get me to that finish line. Running around Circular Quay was truly amazing, seeing the support for all the runners really did help you get over that line, and finishing at the Opera House could not have been more iconic.

I can truly say I loved the race and would not have changed anything, and it was all down to the support and guidance from Greta and the Rejoov team. Training with such a strong group of people helps push you further than you think you can go, and I know I could not have done it without them! Here’s to an extended post-race rest…then on to the next one!

Blackmores rejoovers in alphabetical order:

HALF MARATHON
Adam Priest 1.47 pb running with Maddy
Alexandra McCaughan pacing a friend
Anthea Burton 92.53
Cathy Rowney 2.18 last year in the 50-59 age group :)
Cheryl Greenway 87.21 pb
Chris Don 77.26 Pb 19th male, 3rd in age group
Chris Knight 90.07 pb
Claire Cregan 1.41.36
Dan Mouat 87.58 pb training for 3 Bridges marathon
Flavia Caspary 2.01.56 backing up with Melbourne in 2 weeks
Georgina Beck first event back post injury
Graham Knox 1.48.35 pb
Graham Long 86.49 pb
Harriet Beavis 90.06
Ian Gabriel 81.08 pb 40th male, 1st in 45-49 age group
Jenna Wald 2.13 with partner Dave
Jonny Pisanelli 88.37 fuelled on pastries ;)
Laura Stevens 1.47
Louise Chisholm 1.39
Maddy Leggoe 1.47 pb
Mat Pirotta 1.39 pb
Nicole Katz 1.51.17 pb
Olivia Beck bib didn’t register
Penny Johnston 2.01.15 with hip injury
Sarah Melrose 1.48.27 with knee injury
Sharon Antonir 1.44.23 part of long run for Athens marathon

MARATHON
Alice Kendall 3.12 pb 14th female
Chris Khan 3.43 training for UTA 50k
Chris Truscott 3.15 pacer
Jasper Muir 3.23 pb training for UTA 100k
Megan Paton 4.37 pb
Michelle Woodman 4.23.47 pb
Neil Rosenbaum 3.17 pb
Nicola Silsby 3.22.37 debut 28th female
Oliver Gafen 4.25.57 debut

10KM BRIDGE RUN:
Alex Loftus 57.41
Andre Pech 43.16 with calf injury
Emma Trehy achilles guiding
Erol Sertbas 36.37 pb first event back since Canberra back in April
Josh Arthur 36.20
Harriet Don 51.01 post Oxfam Trailwalker 100k!!
Louise Burgess Cox 45.31 - 5th in 50-59 age group out of 798 in that age group wow!
Mitch Weber 55.24 - 57yrs after an 80km cycle training for St Kilda half ironman
Yury Glikin with 10yr boys Oscar Glikin 49.33 6th & Jaden 49.29 5th, top 6 in under 12s / 180 kids.

FAMILY RUN 3.5KM
Maya with her 10yr old sporty twin girls - we had to shout out to Olivia 15.13 4th out of 849 under 12 kids and Zara 17.28 30th, wow so awesome!

Foreword by Greta:

City to Surf 2022 made Sydney feel like we were back in action post Covid especially because C2S hadn’t been on since pre-Covid in 2019, so it was a race celebration more than ever!! Rejoover Chris Don shares his experience humbly, but we want to shout out what an outstanding breakthrough his run was to be our fastest rejoover on the day in 49:50!! He has come a long way which makes this run extra special. Everyone had epic runs and we are super proud of the entire 80 Rejoov runners on the day. Full results are shared after Chris Don’s blog:

CITY TO SURF 2022, by Chris Don

The City to Surf came around incredibly fast this year. I’m not sure whether it was the rained out summer (that felt like a warmer winter), or if it was just that time is flying by the older I get. Basically though, for me at least, August 14th this year felt like the day after January 1st…

The lead up to the event with Rejoov had been pretty solid. There had been a few Covid/Flu/Life induced speed bumps along the way but all in all, for the first time in a long time, I felt ok fitness wise. I had joined Rejoov in early January after returning from a teaching stint in the NT. One morning I was trudging my way painfully around Centennial when these fresh faced, happy bunch of runners floated past. Their groovy singlets read, ‘Rejoov Runners’.

“I want some of what they’re having”, I thought… And the rest was history.

Flash forward (literally like a flash), 6 months or so and I’m on the start line with my mate Jasper from Rejoov. I’d just thrown down a caffeinated Gel, something I didn’t even know was a thing prior to receiving my program. I’d never actually had one before a race but Rejoov had taken away all my usual excuses for an average performance (good training leading up, diet, knowing the course and so on…) so I figured I’d just lean on ‘the gel made my tummy feel weird’ excuse if things went pear shaped.

We’d done a lot of running on the course leading up to race day including heaps of hill sessions. We’d run a stack of kilometres. The day was perfect. After a few token laps from start line to port-a-loo which acted as the perfect warm-up, the ‘Welcome to Country’ began and things got real pretty fast.

I’ve always been a ‘go out hard and hold on’ kind of runner. I get over-excited and then always find myself fading at the end. Today this was even more so the case. The vibe, the music, all the people, had me really pumped. As I ran down past Rushcutters, I high-fived some singing Hari-Krishna’s and this only added to the overall energy.

I don’t have loads of running experience but the City-to-Surf obviously seems to be a pretty special run. All the bands, DJ’s and members of the public on the sidelines create such an awesome atmosphere. I remember spending many City-to-Surf’s somewhere on those very sidelines, at a house party or on the street, beer in hand, kicking on from the night before wondering whether one day I’d ever sort myself out enough to give it a crack. Today I guess was that day.

The race itself was a bit of blur. I ran hard the first 5km’s, probably too hard. Heartbreak hill was horrible. I remember towards the top doing a little vomit in my mouth, and based on the people pulling over to do the same I knew I wasn’t alone. One thing I did know for sure thanks to my training with Rejoov was that my ability to recover on the flat and downhill had improved a lot! All I had to do was get to the top. I deliberately blocked those secondary hills through Dover Heights out of my mind, until of course they arrived and made me feel very unwell once more.

During the race however I juts felt really calm. Like, it was weird. I think some people refer to this as being in ‘flow’. Rejoov, the coaches, the runners, had really inspired me these last months and I kind of just felt like today was the day all that was going to come to fruition. As I floated into Bondi I knew I was in the realms of big PB and I immediately felt kind of proud (something I had not felt in a long time) and also incredibly grateful for Rejoov, for my body, for my health, for life! Things were good!

After the race, I gave Jasper a feral sweaty hug making sure my vomit bag the first aid people had given me didn’t spill down his back. We chatted to other Rejoovers and runners, took photos and so on. It was an awesome vibe!

I wandered up to the train station a few hours later feeling great. I wanted more. I sent a message to Greta and Chris letting them know how awesome the day had been, thanking them for all the advice/support leading up to the event and asking about what next… It was such a great day and I’m already looking forward to next year!

C2S results in alphabetical order - some went hard and others ran for fun social runs with friends:

Congratulations everybody, marvellous conditions.

Joov top 6 males:
Chris Don 49.50
Josh Arthur 50.27
Chris Truscott 50.49
Jasper Muir 51.33
George Longbottom 53.37
Sam Cornell 53.44

Joov top 6 females:
Imy Briscoe 52.56
Estelle Berton 54.05
Katie R 56.06
Cheryl G 56.39
Alexandra M 57.02
Tess Aungles 59.25

82 runners:
Adam P 66 a 16min pb 🎉
Aisling 63.43 pb post GC mara
Alexandra 57.02 strong post covid
Andre 58.52 ✊🏻 calf went at 13k
Anthea Burton 60.18
Bella R 65.25 pb with Lily
Ben T 65mins post injury yay
Bipro 67.13 post injury 💪🏻
Cathie & Arianne Fab zebra teamwork
Cheryl 56.39 pb post GC mara
Chris Don 49.50 pb holy smokes
Chris K 57.36 pb yay sub 60
Chris T 50:49 #35 c2s 💛
Christian post covid, post injury 58,32pb
Claire C 63.35 for Matt Wacher 🤗
Coralie Great day!! 89mins
Daniel M 61.25 pb crushed it
Darren B with friends 👏🏻👏🏻
Dave Hurds 59.40 sub 60 ninja
Elle M 67.33 happy post sickness
Emma T awesome Achilles volunteering
Emily B 63.08 post sickness 💪🏻
Enya 1:18:23 unforgettable c2s, moving to 🇮🇪
Estelle 84.05 pb wowee ⚡️
Flavia 79.58 pb with Penny 👏🏻👏🏻
George L 53.37 then prob went 🏄‍♂️
Graham K Very happy. 4min PB 67:50
Graham L 64mins
Grant C dnf due to calf ❤️‍🩹
Harriet with the twins 👯‍♂️
Huss 62 pb woohoo, pumped for more
Ian G 53.56 another awesome event
Imy Briscoe 52.56 big pb 23rd female
Jane A 64.40 sisters out in force
Jasper 51.33 pb first time sub 60 😯
John Clarke 55.50 lucky baby slept
Jonny 56.46 smokin debut
Josh A 50.27 what a come back
Jenna 82:28 with Dave ❣️❣️
Kane 55.49pb by 1sec post holiday
Karin 86mins fabulous day
Katie R 56.06 happy with sub 60
Keira B 68.05 so good to be back
Kyle with friends 🎉
Laura S 76mins with friends 😃
Liam Flynn 56.07 well paced 🔥
Lily R 65.02 with Bella, go gals!
Lisa Sh fun morning with Botr
Louise BC 64:51 So happy
Louise Ch 64.00pb chasing Sharonne
Mark L 55.55 another pb this year 😅
Matt M with friends
Mat P 66min big pb since 2019
Meg D 65.07 way to go Megs
Megan P very happy 6min PB 1:16:18
Michael DS our physio 🙌🏼 55.31
Michelle Very happy 78.33. 8min Pb
Natalia P Beautiful day 75:23 debut
Nathan A 56.26 big 7min pb happy
Neil R 57.09 pb baby cuddles at the 🏁
Penny 79:19! Very happy! PB with Flavia⁩
Oliver G with girlfriend
Olivia B 58mins strong run
Peter Truscott 66.16, wife Melanie 77.08 and son Kieren 77.07
Polina What a beautiful day! 82min pb
Sam Cornell 53.44 in budgies
Sally Wood 60:28 pb +5k & 10k pbs 😮
Sammie Feeley 71.41
Sarah M 71.01 pb post holiday 🎉
Sean M so happy 65mins debut
Sharonne 63.29 marathon tng going well
Stuart 60.30 with girlfriend 👏🏻👏🏻
Tess A 59.25 what a finish 🥳
Tessa HS 68mins
Toby 65:12mins pb great atmosphere
Tom Williams 63.09 he’s back!!
Will V 58.29 brought it home!
Yury with his son Oscar 👏🏻👏🏻
Zac Smith 76.59