Running 5:53:00 [3] 42.3 km (8:21 / km)
One for the memory bank, and a reminder that days like today are one of the main reasons I stay fit enough to run. Ripper of an adventure with Andy, Bart, Bull, Keelan & Steve.
The first couple of hours were pretty special, taking chances on coasteering & off-track options that all came off. Beautiful bush, fun rock hopping and some cracking views as we made our way around to mum & dad's place at Elvina Bay. Plenty of amusing moments along the way...including meeting some guy who'd done the GNW100 miler a few times, wondering where the heck we'd come from at Morning Bay as we popped out of the bush and began wading across.
A Boags and Croissants @ 10.30am with Mum and Dad was a nice moment, before slogging up the big hill to West Head road and a couple of km down the road to Duck Holes.
After such an enjoyable morning, we were a little concerned that the remainder would be a bit of an anti-climax. The Duck Holes section and a short section on Mona Vale Rd was a bit bland, but Oxford Falls delivered with a stunning rain-forest like trail thru' to Narrabeen lake, and a drink refill at Andy's favourite public toilets.
At this point things got interesting - a couple of calls confirmed that our goal (the breweries in Brookvale) were closed, and those of us with young kids feeling time pressure to get home, we figured we'd bail out to Narrabeen for a drink at the Sands and then bus it home. (Which Bull did).
But the Collaroy Hotel was only a km from the Sands.
And the Deck Bar at Dee Why only a km from Collaroy.
And the Austrian Bier Haus only a 100m down the road. (A bier stube on the beach wtf). Where Andy tried to claim that adding Mango juice to a beer made it a new beer.
We left the Austrian and started running out to the main road, when Andy's text to Amy "we're heading home now" was met with the amusing reply of "If you've made it to Dee Why, why aren't you continuing to Manly".
Unable to fault the logic, we continued on and somehow found ourselves at 4 Pines in Manly to complete the set of "...to Manly" runs over the last 5 or so years. Finished with a paddle at Bart's prompting, saved the Strava plot and used my last 1% of phone battery (literally) to order an Uber.
What a day. Thanks guys.