Parramatta 2026

June 19

June 20

June 21

Parramatta 2026, June 21

The race was scheduled to start at 7am and was a little over 1.5 kilometres away, just south of the finish  area at CommBank stadium. I woke up with my alarm at 6:15 and had one gel and a small drink before leaving the hotel, which is definitely not the ideal pre-race nutrition but low risk.

There was a lot of detours through the city centre so the walk was a little longer than expected, but came out just in front of the start line. It was possible to do some warmup laps on the road, but I wanted to get a good spot at the start so only did a very short jog. Once I found a spot I had about 20 minutes to wait, a little cold but not too bad.

As the race started I was a few rows back from the start line, but a bunch of eager people immediately went ahead down the first straight. I estimated I was around 100th place as we started through the park, which was a little steeper than I expected. The first drink station came at 5km but was just after a corner so I wasn't prepared for it and was also on the wrong side of the road. It wasn't a hot day so I didn't really need a drink, except I knew the next one wasn't until 12km.

The middle of the race was not the best, switching to some narrow river paths and footpath sections, with a few step hills added in. I was staying on pace at around 3:45/km and even started to feel good after 12 km. I got through some gels at 7 km and 14 km and then we were back into the park for the final third of the race. Inside the park there was another steep hill down and then straight back up again, which probably could have been avoided with a better route.

Going through 17 km my hamstring started to feel weak but I was still managing good times just behind a small pack of about five runners, even getting a bit quicker it turned out. Only after about 19 km as we had a very long route around the back of the stadium I probably started to struggle a bit. I didn't realise I was so close to 80 minutes due to the increasing difference between the course markers and my watch distance. I only got a view of the time when it passed 79 minutes 50 seconds on the board, so there wasn't enough time for an extra sprint and I ended up just missing out on 80 minutes.

Overall it was a well organised race with great crowd support, but just a bit too complicated to run really fast times. There wasn't as much of an expo or finish line experience as other races, although that will probably improve in future. A free t-shirt and free photos with the entry price was a good addition.

After the race I didn't have a lot of time so headed straight back to the hotel. With a quick shower, breakfast, and packing up I was just on time to run to the station in time for the train. Getting off at central station I walked all the way down to the airport platforms only to find they were closed for maintenance. Instead I had to walk all the way back to the street outside, and find a poorly marked queue for replacement buses to the domestic airport terminal. The bus took a while to show up but the trip itself was fast, hardly any different to the train.

I had a little over an hour before departure so got some food for an early lunch and headed to the gate. The flight and the rest of the trip home took the usual five plus hours from start to finish and that was the end of the weekend trip. Being only two weeks before Gold Coast I'm not sure if this would be a definite inclusion to my plans for next year at this stage.

25658 steps with 21.25 km running

Parramatta 2026, June 20

The two parkruns closest to Parramatta could each by reached by bus rather than train. The Auburn Botanical Garden event was smaller and seemed like a slightly better option of the two, however the only valid weekend departure time was 6:55 and arriving at 7:13, with a 1.5km walk afterwards.

Following the plan I got to the parkrun by about 7:30 and it wasn't too unbearably cold, I tried to find somewhere to sit with a bit of direct sun, and soon the briefings were underway and the race was starting. The course had a narrow path in the first kilometre, and with a turnaround included there was also people running the opposite way so I got a bit stuck where I was.

Surprisingly the leader was only running about 20 minutes, but today I was only aiming for 23 to 25 minutes and not concerned with positions. My hamstrings both felt terrible since I got up, but started to get a bit better during the race. I picked off quite a few people along the way and ended up 6th in a bit over 22 minutes.

After getting back to the hotel I had to pickup my bib from CommBank stadium, which was nearly 2 kilometres away. I didn't want to do that much extra walking each way so looked at bus options from Parramatta station instead, and there was quite a few going in the same general direction.

The bib pickup was very fast, and included a free t-shirt and some very small safety pins. There wasn't much else happening at the expo yet, so it was a quick trip there and back on the bus again to the town centre.

I decided not to make a trip all the way to DFO Homebush because of how my legs were feeling, and I might go to DFO Gold Coast in a couple of weeks anyway. Instead I went to Westfield for a much needed haircut and then some shopping. I got another Top Juice yoghurt for lunch and then back to the hotel to watch Welcome To Wrexham and eat lunch while resting.

I also watched some Twitch streams and rested for a bit in the afternoon, then went back to Westfield shops since it wasn't too far to walk. Nike had 25% off but nothing good in their regular store, so I tried Myer and a few other places. While walking around I put in a Nando's order for pickup and went back to the hotel for dinner. In the evening I prepared for getting up at 6:15 and watched more shows on the laptop.

15397 steps with 5 km running

Parramatta 2026, June 19

I just had time for a quick 5 kilometre run in the morning before leaving for the airport, reducing run  distance for the last two days before the half marathon. The travel journey was the same as usual.

• 10:30 train
• 11:10 bus
• 1:00 plane
• 2:50 train
• 4:00 hotel with detour via shops

After getting to the hotel I went back to Parramatta Westfield for food and dinner, picking up a big tub of berry yoghurt from Top Juice and custard rolls from Bread Top. At the supermarket I also found some new sour Powerade drinks, which was a bit unusual for hydration purposes.

That was my whole adventure for the evening so I walked back to the hotel to have dinner and rest after a tiring day or travel with lots of standing and walking.

12398 steps with 5 km running