Race Training Plans
City2Surf
Training Plan
The City2Surf is Australia's largest fun run — 14km through Sydney's eastern suburbs from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach. With over 80,000 participants, it's iconic, hilly, and more challenging than it looks. Here's how to train for it properly.
For entry, wave seedings and official course maps visit the City2Surf official website.
The Course: Know Before You Go
City2Surf is deceptively tough. The route climbs a total of around 130 metres of elevation — most of it concentrated in one infamous section.
Course Profile — km by km
Heartbreak Hill will break your pace. Everyone slows on Heartbreak Hill — plan for it. Target a pace 45–60 seconds per km slower than your flat race pace on that section. Don't try to maintain pace up the hill; save your legs for the run into Bondi.
How to Train Specifically for City2Surf
Because of Heartbreak Hill, flat-road-only training will leave you underprepared. The two most important additions to a standard 14km training plan are:
Hill repeats: Once a week, find a hill that takes 60–90 seconds to run up at a hard effort. Run up, jog down, repeat 6–10 times. This builds the specific strength to handle Heartbreak Hill without destroying your race. Start from week 3 of training.
Hilly long runs: At least two of your long training runs should include significant elevation. Sydney has no shortage of options — any run that goes near the harbour or through the eastern suburbs will have the right profile.
How Long to Train
For most runners, 8–10 weeks is sufficient preparation for City2Surf if you can already run 5–6km comfortably. For beginners, allow 12 weeks. An August race date means starting in May or June. Set your race date in PaceLab and choose a 14km custom distance to build your plan.
Custom distance tip: City2Surf is 14km — not a standard race distance. In PaceLab, select "Custom Distance" and enter 14 to get a plan built specifically for this event.
Ready to Train for City2Surf?
City2Surf Plan
Set race date to August, select Custom Distance → 14km, and get your personalised week-by-week plan.
⚡ Build My City2Surf Plan