It was great to return home to Sydney with the crew and navigate the Friday evening traffic for a relatively smooth run from the Airport across to Sydney Olympic Park to check into the Ibis Hotel prior to heading down to share a meal.
Following some much needed rest I was greeted by Dr. ShuQuan Liu my secret weapon and leading supporter on the recent weight loss journey with plans to run the marathon together around ANZ Stadium. I was greeted by a film crew on opening the hotel door to cover the journey across to the start line and capture the action from the Braveheart’s 777 Marathon in Sydney.
On arrival it was great to meet up with Paul Whatuira the former Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers Premiership winning player and current Motivational speaker to audiences across Australia and New Zealand sharing personal experiences on mental health and wellbeing as the Director of Internal Strength.
The early stages of the zig zagging course layout around ANZ Stadium were shared with Dr. Liu before he decided to head into the office and return later to join me at the finish line which was more than a little amusing. Now having attended many events at ANZ Stadium I had never expected to be running a marathon outside the stadium with the conditions soon warming up to be a beautiful day with a number of areas in the shade a little chilly although nothing compared to recent days.
While the weather conditions were a major improvement the challenge today was more mental than anything else as we all weaved our way through the course to bring home the final Braveheart’s managed marathon on the approach to the Day 7 finish line at the Gold Coast Marathon.
In the final stages of the marathon Dr. Liu would return to make an appearance although by this stage I was well and truly in the zone pushing hard toward the finish line and had to press on without the distraction to make it across the line. It was a little funny to find him running with me and zig zagging behind prior to running into the finish line together.
Now conscious of returning to the hotel to prepare for the final marathon on the Gold Coast it was very nice to share a little more time with Dr. Liu and his crew to capture further footage of the latest marathon journey and feature the Braveheart’s 777 Marathon event in Sydney.
Leaving the Ibis Hotel it was good to meet up with the Hawthorn Head of Performance in town for the game against the GWS Giants on Sunday. Now it was time for us to make our way north to take on the final Braveheart’s 777 marathon challenge at the Gold Coast.