After two years of going virtual, the world's largest fun run, the City2Surf, returned to Australia's Sydney on Sunday.

Just as he did every year, 85-year-old Bruce Shying woke up in the early hours of the morning before he, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all piled onto the train for the city.

"I get to Sutherland railway station at around six o'clock in the morning. By the time you get to Town Hall the train is packed with people all going to run," he told Xinhua.

He described the Sunday morning, as trains fill up at each stop and the carriage fills with the smell of liniment, thousands of people crowd the starting line in the iconic Hyde Park, as "Sydney on the run".

"It's the only time I ever see Sydney when everybody's getting out and participating, and that's the best."

Shying is one of 20, of the 60,000 expected to participate this Sunday, who have made it across the finish line at the famous Bondi Beach every year since the race began in 1971.

Fellow legend, 81-year-old Ted Thompson, told Xinhua that running was about getting out and being part of a community.

"What running is, it's getting out the front door, communicating with your neighbors, " he said.

Two years ago when the race went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thompson still took the train into Sydney and ran the course on his own. This year he and his wife were ready to once again get lost in the crowds.

Shying said that he could never have imagined that race would become such a staple of the city's culture when he first competed over 50 years ago.

But each year more and more people have joined the race and made it the world's largest fun run. And for the legends, sun, hail or shine, nothing can stand between them and their hard-earned title.

"So if something goes wrong with [some of the legends] and they can't do it on the year, we've had to organize someone to give them a hand and push them in a wheelchair," said Shying.

This year's youngest "runners" are just three months old, who will cross the finish line with the help of their parents, while the oldest runner is 98 years old.

"You don't have to win, you've got to participate," Shying said.

"It's no different to any part of our lives, these things. We're not always going to come first in the class, but at least you're going to have a go aren't you? And you do the best you can and if you don't get to the top it doesn't really matter."

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