Here are some photos taken at Bondi Beach on Sunday 14th August 2011. Around 85,000 people lined up for the event, with the front runners starting at 8:30am and the back markers at 9:30am.

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The weather was overcast and dull; it was raining at daybreak. However it cleared a little and did not rain at Bondi Beach during the fun run. This year, in a tribute to twitter-speak and texting, the run was promoted as the City 2 Surf. I was unable to get to the beach before noon, so I arrived just as the stragglers were finishing. There is no upper limit on the finishing time, and some people made it a leisurely three hour walk. The street sweepers and rubbish trucks were not far behind. Many people enjoyed group barbeques in the corporate tents and in the picnic shelters, but it was a little cold and damp for a picnic on the grass. It was clear that many people completed the run and then caught a bus straight back to Bondi Junction. However the local hotels and cafes were packed with people enjoying a meal and a drink. By 2pm there were surprisingly few people on the sand at Bondi Beach and cleaning up was well underway. At 1pm a video screen in the park was replaying the earlier telecast of the run and some of the pictures above are direct from this screen. This year Sydney Buses decided to keep their passengers informed. Dozens of loudspeakers on lampposts stated the obvious, hour after hour. The same recorded announcement, barely a minute long, was repeated constantly, hour after hour. Congratulations on finishing the 2011 Sun Herald City to Surf presented by Westpac. All buses are heading to Bondi Junction. A reminder. Don't forget your bib. It's your ticket to free public transport today. Buses, trains and ferries all over Sydney. All Buses leaving Bondi Beach are going to Bondi Junction where you can then continue your onward journey by train or bus. Anyone in a queue waiting for a bus would have heard this announcement twenty times. A reminder - and the sponsors' names. The hoped-for solution of a second bus loading point, and a second bus route to Bondi Junction avoiding Bondi Road did not eventuate. Way back in 1904 the tram route was extended to Bondi Beach via Bondi Road. In 1916 a second route was provided via Curlewis Street and Birriga Road. Jump forward to 2011. Over 30 years of City to Surf and Bondi Road is at a standstill.

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