Had the opportunity to head over to the Gold Coast, Australia back in October and I packed my running shoes along. One thing’s for sure, if it’s running that you are looking forward to, there are no shortage of places to run at, even when you are located in the tourist mecca of Surfers Paradise. I headed out on a run on the morning of Day 3 of my trip at the Gold Coast, having spent the first day flying (it was a red-eye), and the 2nd day was full-on tour activities right after we exited the airport.
First Run
Back to the first run. It was a classic “Surf Club Run”. I’ll tell you why in a moment. I started at about 5 in the morning, near Eileen Peters Park, heading south. From there, I caught a glimpse of the sun in the horizon and  I ran into Broadbeach, passing by the Kurrawa Surf Club (about 3 kilometres from where I started and then onto Pratten Park. The next Surf Club I tagged was the Mermaid Beach Surf Club, which was about 1.7 KM down the road from Kurrawa. It was here I saw the sun rise.
Having enough of tarmac, I headed to the beach and started running back to Surfers Paradise. I overshot Eileen Peters Park and ran up to the place where I had dinner the previous night (Hurricane’s) to get a nice total distance of 10 KM.
Second Run
The next day’s run was a total whopper. 17 KM in length, I really had no idea I was going to be out that long, but this run is definitely one you should try out if you are staying in Surfers. Starting from Eileen Peters Park, I ran up north this time. The running scene here in Gold Coast is awesome, with walkways and cycleways making up the Gold Coast Oceanway and drinking stations in abundance. I soon found myself in the area known as Federation Walk, and here’s where the walkways stop, and the trails begin in the form of the Federation Walk.
Now, Federation Walk is really unique, as part of it includes sand dunes and reclamation efforts, and the trail is a mix of sand, and gravel. I passed by Seaworld before heading deeper in the dunes, finally emerging and the sand-reclamation jetty. I didn’t really make it to the end of The Spit (which is a minor regret in an otherwise totally awesome run), but I did pay some money to get onto the Sand Bypass Jetty. The winds from the Pacific were blowing very strong that day, and the newspapers on the next day reported that it was up to 60 km/h that morning. No wonder I was almost blown off my feet during the return leg.
One thing about the Gold Coast that differs a lot from Malaysia is the lack of humidity. This translates to much longer, and much comfortable runs. And that meant I ran for a third day straight. This was with a colleague over the same northern route into The Spit, but cut short to a 5 KM in, 5 KM out, kind of thing.
