An exciting atmosphere today at the Bridge to Brisbane fun run, with a record 37,000 people registered for the 5k and 10k events.
The 10k event which I entered, starts on the south side of the Gateway Bridge and finishes at the Brisbane Exhibition ground, so with no bag drop off possible at start area, whatever you have on goes with you to the finish. The course starts by running up the high, lengthy Gateway Bridge which crosses the Brisbane River and upon reaching the top you have conquered about 1.2k, then down the other side and along bitumen roads whilst being entertained and motivated by several music stations playing a range of genre The most exhilarating genre is the opera singers located in the tunnel near the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel with their voices echoing hundreds of meters prior to entering the tunnel The start is commenced in waves determined by your nominated predicted finishing time when registering. As my wave started at 6.25am, I had less than 4 hours sleep Saturday night after attending the mighty Brisbane Lions AFL side’s great victory when I arrived home at midnight. Not an ideal preparation. Sometimes living at Redcliffe some 37k north of Brisbane we encounter difficulties attending events is Brisbane and unfortunately this morning was no different. We were notified early in the week that the Bowen Hills Railway Station, the most convenient railway station near the Exhibition grounds finish ground, was closed for track maintenance. Damm!! This hiccup necessitated that my group of 4 runners, had to travel in 2 cars from Redcliffe and leave one car near the Bowen Hills railway station exhibition whilst the partner of one of my colleagues drove us to about 1k from the start area and then returned to Redcliffe Despite lack of sleep, we arrived at the start about 6am full of enthusiasm and all were satisfied with the times we recorded. Look forward to 2026 event which will be its 30th anniversary