Sydney 2025, May 17

Had to get up around 7:30am for a 2 kilometre run to the closest parkrun at Wentworth Common. After that 2 kilometres on my watch I was at the Brick Pit but still hadn't found the parkrun area yet, but before starting to panic I found it was just another 100 metres further ahead.

The course was a bit wet and muddy from the overnight rain, starting with a one kilometre loop around Wentworth Common then heading back towards the Olympic Park precinct. Near the turnaround there was a couple of spots where the footpath had flooded and the alternative was muddy grass.

I only jogged at about 4:30/km the whole way and was in about 20th position. In the final kilometre I could hear some guy trying to overtake me so I ran faster for the last 200 metres to the finish line.

Combined walking and jogging to get back to hotel, and noticed some car show was being setup near Accor Stadium.

I managed to connect to the hotel wifi with VPN, which wasn't working yesterday. After changing I got ready for a short bus ride to Homebush DFO, a much better idea than walking two kilometres each way. There was stores for Adidas, Asics, Nike, and Puma but no New Balance yet.

I just got some running shorts from Adidas and a pair of Structure 25 shoes from Nike to make the trip worthwhile. The stock was quite disappoint and only Puma had a few actual running shoes for sale.

I risked buying a tub of berry yoghurt to take back on the bus, luckily the bus came on time and was a quick trip. Then it was back to the Woolworths Metro again for some other items for lunch, to watch some shows on my computer and rest my legs, which were a bit sore from standing and walking.

After lunch I walked back to Olympic Park station but the morning car show had finished already. Instead I took a quick trip to Strathfield Plaza and back on the train, which was travelling slow again.

Heading back to the hotel I picked up my race bib, which was just across the road at the athletics centre. Both of my legs were now feeling a little sore in the hamstrings so I needed to rest some more in the afternoon before dinner. At the hotel I watched the afternoon AFL before ordering some food for dinner, then watched some more shows and Twitch streams before an early night.