Training for yesterday's City2Surf has started what could be a Connect09 tradition for one suburban parish.

Two months ago, members of St Barnabas', East Roseville started a running group to train for yesterday's 14-kilometre race, which saw 75,000 participants take on the hard slog stretching from Sydney's CBD to Bondi Beach.

St Barnabas' member Peter Brockington, who got the running group going, said the Wednesday and Saturday early morning training runs have been part of St Barnabas' Connect09 strategy.

"There are people from our congregation coming along, as well as members of the community we didn't know previously," he says.

The group had attracted local people's attention through signs outside the church and letterbox drops " while the group itself was an eye-catching sight simply running through the sleepy streets of Roseville.

While the group who participated in yesterday's event was made up entirely of members of St Barnabas', Mr Brockington says a running group next year is "definitely on the calendar", perhaps starting three months earlier next time, and including more social activities outside the running group.

For rector, the Rev Michael Kellahan, yesterday was his first City-2-Surf experience, and while he joins thousands of Sydneysiders in feeling a little sore today, he is enthusiastic about the opportunities Sydney Anglican churches could take up in future years.

"Most times we were training we had people along from the local community,” he says.

“We didn't see people join us in huge numbers, but… it was a good start… It seemed like for not much effort here, we got a lot of people enthused and involved and it's got the potential to do a lot more.”

Mr Kellahan says one inspiration was seeing the visual statement that was made by 1000 people wearing Jesus All About Life shirts.

"We're a tiny church and we raised a grand without blinking " if you had buy-in from a lot more, you could do a lot more with it,” he says.

However for this year, the cameraderie of the running group which focussed on individuals working at their own pace has been a significant opportunity.

"That was where we had good contact with people I think " some of the people who didn't end up running with us still had weeks and weeks of training with us, where they've actually had someone lovingly engaging with them and they've got to meet Barney's people,” Mr Kellahan explains.

The team raised over $1,000 through their run, all of which has gone to Anglicare Sydney.

Famished finishers get Anglicare feed

Anglicare Bondi has continued its tradition of offering hospitality at the finish line, this year with a street party outside St Andrew’s, Bondi.

A barbecue, face painting, balloon-making, family games, craft and music were some of the highlights.

This year saw a bumper increase in attendance from last year's 200-strong crowd, with 500 hungry finishers taking in the sausage sizzle and other activities.

This year, $6000 was raised for Anglicare's youth counselling program, which will support young people in the city.