Sydney Striders retain the Urban Max Sydney crown
By: Richard Green
After winning the inaugural Sydney Urban Max in 2005, it felt like wishful thinking to think that the Sydney Striders’ team could do it again – you don’t get to beat Andrew Hill often.
The win at the 2005 event involved some good decisions, quick legs and a little bit of luck (or, at least, no bad luck) – fortunately, those 3 key factors all occurred again and 1st place was achieved even more comprehensively despite a 20-25 minute queue at the Fish Markets.
Starting on the boat threw us off track, as we expected to be dropped off in Greenwich, Mosman or somewhere else on the harbour. As it was, we were stuck on the top deck admiring the view when we pulled into Circular Quay – it may have only been 3 or 4 minutes waiting to get off but it felt like a lifetime, particularly knowing that Andrew Hill had been on a lower deck and was probably already off & running.
By the time we got the clue sheet, there were teams already sat comfortably on the Opera House steps but no such luxury for us. A first quick read of the clues and they were nearly all solved as we jogged immediately away from the Opera House. The clues were harder than last year but being an avid reader has its benefits as only 1 clue really needed 3rd party confirmation (being confirmation of Centennial Park).
With a large number of clues being in the CBD and some of them, as well as the climbing, not opening till later, we decided to get the peripheral ones first. We ran round to the ferry wharves where a ferry was due out to Double Bay at 9.20 however 20 minutes waiting in this event is not only boring but fatal. To kill time, we ran up to the King George sports centre where having a 6ft6 Dutch team member proved not to be as big an advantage for basketball as expected – the climbing wall would redeem that though.
Back down to the Quay and there were still 12 minutes to the ferry leaving so there was only 1 choice – run! So off we went to Woolloomooloo, on to Double Bay (à la City to Surf) and then up to Centennial Park. This was not entirely pleasant in the heat but we beat the ferry to Double Bay and didn’t see the Mission Australia bus en route so I think “shank’s pony” was the best way to go. As we left Centennial Park and I was boring my teammate with the details of the new express cashless bus from Bondi to the CBD (the 333), lo and behold, one drove past. To our distress, as we sprinted up behind the stopped bus, he indicated to pull out at which point the driver got to see a maniacal Dutchman in a bright red Kodak bib waving in his mirror and (amazingly) decided to wait for us instead of flooring it – Lucky Moment Nr. 1. When we got on (for our first sit down of the morning), we must have looked disgusting and I pitied our fellow passengers as we melted & sweated onto the seats.
Into the CBD and the Capitol Theatre, Paddy’s Markets, Exhibition Centre and Boost were quickly ticked off. As it was now 10.40, we thought it was a wise idea to get to the climbing wall as we were concerned about the queues at opening time – an unnecessary concern as it transpired. Then came Lucky/Inspired Break Nr 2. as we got to Wynyard, we had 7 minutes to a North Shore train. As I said before, I hate waiting so we ducked out to Clarence Street where a bus was just about to head across the bridge. When we got off in North Sydney, we had time to get to the Rag & Famish and back to North Sydney train station just in time to get on the train that we would have otherwise been on from Wynyard.
It was a pleasant surprise to get to the climbing wall and find no queue though also surprised that it had obviously been open for a while but such is life. About 2 steps and the big fella was at the top and we were back to St. Leonards and on a train within 15 minutes of arriving at ClimbFit. All we had left was a photo at the Fish Markets, a punch in Glebe & then make the model before the finish line.
We knew we had been traveling very well but when we got into the queue at the Fish Markets, we were somewhat concerned as you never know where other teams are. As it was, we were queuing for at least 20 minutes and expected that to be the end of our quest for 1st place. We had a nice chat to other teams around us and made our model – so it was at least a productive & pleasant wait. There was no point getting feral about it either as, though not expecting a queue here, we had expected one at the climbing wall so overall we didn’t feel “wronged.”
After our photo (and the painful wait for the Kodak machine to spit out our photo), it was a quick sprint to Glebe and the finish line where to our very pleasant surprise, no other team was waiting. With no concerns about missed checkpoints, we were able to celebrate and had a nice soak in the university sprinklers which were being tested. We also watched amused as the 2nd & 3rd teams strolled to the finishing line close to each other making their models but not realising how well they had done and that they could have overtaken each other with a bit more effort.
Could we have done anything better? Ignoring possible route order changes if we’d have known about ClimbFit being open earlier, I think we could not have done better (except for having less of a queue at the Fish Markets). Route choice and luck with transport was pretty vital, quick solving of the clues was key but running crazily brought it all together.
The question is – can it be 3rd time lucky?