7.58am, Wednesday, August 13. The Weatherzone app shows the temperature is 8.2 but feels like 5.8. On my bike down Oxford Street towards the city it is colder. Why did I agree to meet this fanatic at the War Memorial?
The idea was to catch him in action. Pedestrians disguised as Douglas Mawson hurry through Hyde Park to the warmth of a workplace. And there he is, our esteemed editor, Rev. Andrew Collis, unstoppable as the Burgess boys, weaving through the woolly crowd in shorts and a t-shirt wet with sweat.
“Sorry I’m late.” “You’re right on time,” he says, glancing at his watch without breaking stride as I pedal beside him. “Two more laps to make 20.”
I commence my questioning as we round the Pool of Reflection. His replies are not punctuated by puffing. He speaks easily – a measure of comfort according to handbooks of long-distance running – he is training solo today because his training partner has a sniffle. There are fewer runners on the streets this week after the City to Surf. “You had a service to conduct rather than get caught up in that populist pagan fun run.” “Yes,” he chuckles warily.
Sunday, September 21 will be his holiday from ecclesiastical duties. While the Rev. Dr Clive Pearson preaches to his parishioners, Andrew will be pushing through pain barriers in the full marathon that is the main event of Blackmores Sydney Running Festival.
It is not merely a masochistic misunderstanding of the meaning of muscular Christianity that drives our editor to pound the pavement pre-dawn in training for the 42km challenge. He intends to raise money for Weave Youth & Community Services.
Set up in 1975 as South Sydney Youth Services by local parents worried about the welfare of children on the streets at night, Weave today employs 34 staff in their new state-of-the-art facility next to the Skate Park at Waterloo Oval.
Twenty laps completed, Andrew does some brisk runs past the camera. He has run marathons before, drawn to the loneliness of long-distance running about a decade back despite being old enough to know better. He delights in the camaraderie of the Ravens running group with Adrian Spry et al and is keen to improve his technique from efficient to elegant with the enthusiasm of one who enjoys the endorphin rush of exercise.
Photo duties done, our man lopes off towards Redfern. Bless him.
