But a “big night” saw her sleep through her 6.30am alarm. When she woke, she then hit the snooze button several times before dragging herself out of bed at 7.30am.
Coffee was required and getting organised to make the 6km event from Porritt Park instead.
It was a good move: The 36-year-old’s bib number was drawn out from the several thousand entries for the major prize, a return trip for two to Sydney, sponsored by House of Travel.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting my number to be called because the prize just before mine was close to my number. Suddenly boom, my number was called - how lucky can I be?" Aceveda said.
Her friends describe her as being “tinny” because she wins things.
"But nothing major like this. The only thing that I probably haven't won now, is Powerball, which I need."
Aceveda was going to take part with a group of friends who call themselves the Filipino Bingo Girls, because they play bingo.
"Unfortunately two of them were overseas and the other couldn't make it. So that left just my good friend Erlyn (Fletcher)," she said.
Aceveda texted Fletcher to say she was running late, and she wouldn’t get to the 12km start at Latimer Sq. So they met at Porritt Park instead.
Every FreshChoice City2Surf entry bib had a unique number, which is entered into the draw.
Prizes are randomly selected on the day, providing all entrants a chance to win regardless of their finishing time. Aceveda is now considering using the prize to enter the Sydney City2Surf in August. If she does she will take Fletcher to Sydney; if not she will take her husband Shaun.
