Eastern suburbs runner abandons Sydney Marathon at 25km after becoming too scared to enter Kingsford

MENTAL ROADBLOCK: A Dover Heights man says he was forced to abandon his dream of completing his first marathon, after the course began winding into unfamiliar territory.

“I felt fine running through North Sydney and the CBD, but once I hit Kensington, I knew I was in trouble.” Joel King-Yardley told DBT shortly after quitting the race at the 25km mark.

The 36-year-old says he still had loads of energy, but felt uneasy about running through suburbs like Kingsford and Daceyville.

“I’ve never even heard of these places and I’ve lived in Sydney my entire life,” he said.

“So I quickly hailed a cab, went back to Dover Heights and fired up my home sauna.”