Course Description

The Marysville to Melbourne Multisport Challenge is played out over a challenging but remarkably scenic course that takes in a range of landscapes as it winds its way from the main street of Marysville to the centre of Melbourne at Docklands.

Competitors will find themselves running through temperate rainforest with towering tree ferns lining the trail, riding on undulating hills through eucalypt bushland providing snapshot views to the city, and paddling on the serene Yarra River through extensive parkland and regional wilderness to the high rises and café strips of Southbank and the finish line at Docklands. This is a course with an incredible variety of scenery that will keep you interested from start to finish.

Broken down into six legs, the course contains no single leg that is too epic if done as a team, but when tackled as an individual doing the whole thing, it will take its toll as an ambitious challenge over a gruelling 157km from start to finish.

Course Map

Here is an interactive course map on Google Earth

View Marysville to Melbourne Multisport Challenge, 2013 in a larger map

[You can download a KMZ file of this course that can then be uploaded into your GPS device by: clicking here to go to a larger version of the map, then clicking the KML text in the details on the left. This will output a KML file that can be read in Google Earth or your GPS software. If you need it converted to a GPX file then use this converter]

Leg #1: 19km Run

All runners will start full of anticipation and nervous energy in the main street of Marysville early on Sunday morning. The course starts with a steady climb on a quality dirt road, ascending over 100m in the first 3 km. After some undulations on the ridge line, the course descends 150m through the eucalypt forest allowing you to open up the legs and gain some good speed before a final 100m climb up to the finish at Dom Dom Saddle.

This is trail running at its best. It’s not a technical run over rocks and boulders, but has a faster flavour by sticking mainly to 2WD and 4WD tracks, with a couple of tough little hills thrown in for good measure.

See an Insider's Course Preview video of the trail run legs below.

Leg #2: 50km The Difference Road Ride

You could call this ride ‘the big dipper’ and you would be pretty much bang on. From the transition area at Dom Dom Saddle picnic area, it’s a spectacular descent through the magnificent tall timber of the Black Spur that will see you flying down 300m in the first 5km with little regard for what’s ahead.

There is a nasty upward pinch (on hot mix) at the 8km mark before the flowing descent continues into Healesville, after which it’s up, up, up, on the scenic Chum Creek to Toolangi climb. As far as road climbs go, this is one of the finest with a steady gradient, on a good surface through beautiful bushland that has you climbing nearly 400m through Castella and then a final undulation to the transition area at Kinglake, located at the temporary accommodation village on the south east corner of the roundabout.

This is the training ground of many Melbourne road riders and will see the hot shots posting some phenomenal times.

See an Insider's Course Preview video of the road ride legs below. 

Leg #3: 41km St Andrews Road Ride

This ride leg also starts with a rip roaring descent down the Heidelberg-Kinglake Road that many local riders know like the back of their hand, as it descends through the fire ravaged bushland from 2009’s Black Saturday. On through St Andrews, Panton Hill and Kangaroo Ground and you’d be wise not to put it all into your pedals as the final 10 km into the transition at Eltham has plenty of deceptive little climbs and energy sapping descents that could easily see the unprepared rider bonk big time. The TA is located just over the Yarra River in Westerfolds Park off Fitzsimons Lane. (This is the same TA used in 2012 but different to 2011).

Although winding its way into pleasant suburbia, the course avoids all traffic lights and has only 2 stop signs to halt your progress. You will be surprised at how scenic the ride is and how you seem to magically avoid the shops and houses as you descend to the river.

See an Insider's Course Preview video on the road ride legs below. 

Leg #4: 12.5km Yarra Trail Run

With the climbs and descents completed for the day, there is nothing to slow you down on this fast paced run, apart from the lactic acid in your legs, as you power along the Yarra River flood plains from Westerfolds Park through to Ivanhoe. The trail varies from vehicle width gravel walking track, to narrower single track through sections of bushland, swapping from one side of the river to another on a number of bridges that link the riverside parklands into a continuous corridor of urban wilderness. The TA is located next to Eaglemont Tennis Club which is accessed from The Boulevard.

This is a fast and non technical run, with the only hazards being dog walkers and their by-products, so keep your eyes peeled!
 

See an Insider's Course Preview video of the trail run legs below.

Leg #5: 15km Fitness Paddlers Australia river paddle

Now it’s onto the mighty Yarra River as this winding waterway weaves its way from Ivanhoe to Abbotsford as a flat water paddler’s paradise. The river starts out just 5-10m wide with a particularly twisty course that will see you chasing the fastest current from one side to the other as it winds its way through bushland, flanked by a number of golf courses. The further you paddle, the wider the river gets as you paddle past the landmarks of the Fairfield Park Boathouse and then the popular Studley Park Boathouse and iconic swing bridge a short distance before the transition area at Dights Falls. You will need to get out of your boat to portage the falls and enter the transition area.

Note, due to ongoing works by Melbourne Water at Dights Falls the river level is currently significantly lower than normal and therefore the river is very narrow and shallow in some spots and may require portaging and careful navigation, especially if using a craft with an understern rudder.
The paddle legs involve a couple of very small grade 1 rapids or fast flowing water and both legs are achievable by paddlers of pretty much any ability. 

See an insider's course preview video of the river paddle legs here. 

Leg #6: 16km Yarra’s Edge River Paddle