The annual running event bringing Sydneysiders together has brought over $3.6 million in donations across 600 charities including over 90,000 participants as of the first race start this Sunday morning, August 10th. 

In the harbour city's wettest August in 9 years, it comes as no surprise that this year's 14-kilometre run is expected to deliver patchy showery conditions right until the final runners cross the finish line later in the morning. 

Image: Runners pack the streets near Sydney's CBD during the 2012 City2Surf event, with a particular hero gracing the pole position (Getty images)

In terms of official City2Surf events, this stacks up as the first wet event since 2012, when 5.4mm was recorded in the gauges in the 24 hours to 9am on race morning. Including virtual events, however, both 2020 and 2021 City2Surf events saw rain in periods across multiple days. 

Currently, the conditions are reasonably wet, indeed with some slippery roads, with about 20-30mm that has fallen about the central Sydney region overnight and into this morning.

Image: Metstorm Quantitative Preciptation Estimation (QPE) rainfall observations in the 12 hours to 7:30am AEST on Sunday, August 10th, just prior to the first race start. 

Rainfall is expected to continue into the new week beyond the races – so this isn't just nature's attack on the world's largest fun run. Upwards of 30-50mm are expected about the Sydney CBD, with isolated totals of 60-70mm possible along the coastal fringes towards the Illawarra to late Monday evening. 

Image: Forecast accumulated rainfall to late evening on Monday, August 11th according to the Access-C Sydney computer model. 

Good luck to all runners who are participating in this year's event. Don't forget to check the latest forecasts, stories and warnings on our website for more information.