There was no Heartbreak Hill or seaside views, but Grace King was determined to complete this year's City 2 Surf regardless.
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The 14km event would usually see the streets of Sydney's CBD packed with runners eager to make their way to Bondi, but due to COVID, the fun run was replaced with a virtual race instead.
Ms King, along with some other eager athletes from around Orange took up the challenge on Sunday.
"We started at 7.30am and I feel sorry for the poor people in the neighbourhood," she said.
"The best part about City 2 Surf is the atmosphere, so because we thought we were going to miss out on all of that and having DJ's lining the street, we made our dance party playlist and brought two speakers with us on the run. We got some funny looks."
That wasn't the only way they tried to replicate the event.
"We also made sure our Heartbreak Hill lined up with a hill out towards Canobolas," Ms King added.
"We had a lovely support crew of family and friends who had ribbon and streamers along the way for us so we kept our morale up from that. We made sure to do it as authentically as possible, so that's what made it a lot of fun. We didn't just run it, we danced it and tried to make the best of it."
Their times certainly showed how determined they were as well. Largely remaining together, the group completed the 14km course in a little over two hours.
"We're trying to get back to normality as much as possible obviously, so in the midst of everything that's happened, aiming to run 14km and doing something fun with it was a really good goal to have for our fitness and mental health," Ms King said.
"It's something we've had planned for a couple months and knew it was something we had to aim for, just that little bit of freedom we were able to get."
As for what the future holds? Well, it's hoped they will be able to do the real deal in 2022.
"We're all part of the Orange Runners Club or the triathlon clubs around town, and a lot of them do the City 2 Surf as a group, so we're hoping to continue to do this going forward," Ms King finished.
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