The Centennial Park Ultra is a ultra marathon held at Centennial Park in Sydney. It is located about 5k from the CBD and is one of the most popular places to run in the city. You can often spot elite runners training here. The terrain is cross country and there are multiple running routes around the park but the most popular is the 3.57k loop around the park.
The Centennial Park Ultra comprised of 50k and 100k races both in solo or relay format. The 50k includes completing 14 laps around the park and 28 laps for the 100k. I participated in the 50k solo. This was my second consecutive race weekend and I wasn't sure if I was up to it physically since I hadn't recovered well from completing two marathons in a month and now a 50k.
This was another race on my list as running 14 laps was going to be a challenge both physically and mentally. I wanted to test and push myself to see if I was up to the challenge. Personally I enjoy races such as these as there is no time pressure. I set myself an achievable target of 4:30 which is about 5:25 pace. I finished in 4:34 and I was happy with the time as I stopped a few times at the aid stations.

Another great plus about doing an ultra is the aid stations. It was well stocked with tons of food. Fruits, cakes, chocolates, muesli bars, and plenty more. I hate taking energy gels as they don't suit me well but eating a piece of orange at the end of each lap kept me going and I never felt the fatigue set in as in marathons. Maybe it was due to running relaxed, enjoying the race and not worrying about the time.
For some running laps can be mind boggling but you have to break it down into sections and maybe listen to music to take your mind of it. I broke the course into seven sets of two laps and that made it easier to run the race. Plus I had my music to take my mind of just running lap after lap.
The race support kept the runners motivated too. I had a few friends at the race who spurred me on at the end of each lap. One of my friends also ran the last lap with me which was amazing.
Overall, I will definitely run this race again and I would like to run it feeling fresh and not run it after running a marathon a week before. Maybe I might consider attempting the 100k next year. I will recommend it to runners thinking of running an Ultra. This format of a race is much better than running a road race ultra as it is fully supported and you don't need your own support crew or carry your own gear. Leave all your gear at the start/finish area and as you complete each lap grab some food and carry on running. You will last longer in races with this format and it is more fun running past the start/finish being cheered on and high fiving the spectators.