Race #2: Sunday July 28th, 2013
Plenty Gorge, Plenty
Race distances: 6.6km, 11.7km and 17.6km races

Race # 2 takes place in the beautiful Yellow Gum Park in the awe inspiring Plenty Gorge on the Plenty River in North Eastern Melbourne.

This often forgotten corner of Melbourne is located just past Bundoora and sits just 30km (or 40 minutes drive) from the Melbourne CBD – but step out of the car and you will feel a world away with a beautiful natural setting all around you.

The Plenty Gorge race will see short, medium adn long course runners complete a scenic loop deep within local bushland made friendly with plenty of kangaroos, echidnas, galahs and other friendly Aussie wildlife to keep you company.

The courses are also a little tougher than race #1 at Yarra Bend as you will criss-cross the Plenty Gorge a couple of times, climbing up and down the sides of the valley and its steep sided walls. Whilst enjoying the views along the gorge when you are at the valley top, runners may even get your feet wet crossing the river at the valley bottom – adding to the adventure aspect of your trail running experience.

The start and finish are located in the Yellow Gum Park picnic area at the end of Goldsworthy Lane beside Blue Lake. The nearby lookout provides panoramic views of Plenty Gorge and the surrounding parkland and should keep families and friends busy whilst runners are off enjoying the trails.

The courses at Race #2 at Plenty Gorge were new to the 2012 Salomon Trail Running Series and maintain the high standard set by other locations with diverse scenery, interesting running and more than the odd hill to keep you interested. We look forward to showing it to you. 

VIEW 2012 PHOTO GALLERY HERE or click on photos in the menus above.

COURSE MAP

View Race #2 Plenty Gorge - 2012 Salomon Trail Run Series in a larger map

Long Course elevation profile

Medium Course elevation profile

Short Course elevation profile

New long course elevation profile to be uploaded soon.

Course vision

Course description

Part of the attraction of trail running is the adventure that it leads you on, the wilderness you pass through and enjoyment you have along the way. Now we don’t want to ruin that by giving you a blow by blow description of the course, so provide the following brief descriptions only.

Long course 17.6km: (course goes in a clockwise direction on above map):

The first half of the long course is largely the same as the medium course and then you add in the short course loop at the end]

All runners start immediately beside the Yellow Gum Picnic Area then set off into the bushland following a wide double track that drops through a small gully and then crosses a cleared plain where you’ll be sure to see a flock of kangaroors enjoying the grass. The course climbs gradually as it winds its way through the bushland to the 2.5km point before a long, enjoyable descent to cross the Plenty River for the first time at the 4.5km mark. The course climbs out of the river and then follows alongside the valley with a sharp climb at the 5.6km mark that leads you to the water point at the 6.3km mark at a distinctive right hand turn beside the clearing.

After the water point there is a gradual downhill before more undulating, scenic running on enjoyable single track through to the second river crossing at the 9.6km mark. Keep following the single track and enjoy the spectacular views upstream as the track is dug into the side of the valley before turning left to complete the northern loop whilst medium course runners continue through to the finish.

The northern loop continues the superb trail running characteristics as the southern loop with plenty of undulating single track through the bush. (The short course also does this loop so read the description below for more details). Shortly after turning off you will cross the Plenty River and basically snake along some undulating single track through a mixture of bushland and more open grazing land (for kangaroos). There is a final river crossing at the 15km point leading into a couple of decent hills that will soon lead you back into the finish line at Yellow Gum Park. Well done!

Medium course 11.7km. (course goes in a clockwise direction on above map):

The medium course basically does the first two thirds of the long course, or southern loop from the start finish area.
All runners start immediately beside the Yellow Gum Picnic Area then set off into the bushland following a wide double track that drops through a small gully and then crosses a cleared plain where you’ll be sure to see a flock of kangaroors enjoying the grass. The course climbs gradually as it winds its way through the bushland to the 2.5km point before a long, enjoyable descent to cross the Plenty River for the first time at the 4.5km mark. The course climbs out of the river and then follows alongside the valley with a sharp climb that leads you to the water point at the 6.3km mark at a distinctive right hand turn beside the clearing.

After the water point there is a gradual downhill before more undulating, scenic running on enjoyable single track through to the second river crossing at the 9.6km mark. Another sharp climb out of the valley soon sees you running above the river once again and then crossing the finish line after a final pinch just before the picnic area.

Keep following the single track and enjoy the spectacular views upstream as the track is dug into the side of the valley. Keep right part way up the final climb as the long course runners turn left to complete the northern loop whilst medium course runners keep powering through to the finish line in Yellow Gum Park – well done!
 

Short Course – 6.6km: (course goes in a clockwise direction on above map):

The short course basically does the last third of the long course by completing the ‘northern loop’ from Yellow Gum Park.

All runners start immediately beside the Yellow Gum Picnic Area then set off downhill to your first crossing of the Plenty River at the 500m point. There are a couple of short and sharp hills within the first 1.5km that will have you changing down a gear or two before the trail plateaus out and provides views up the Plenty Gorge.

Reach the 3km point and you’ll descend down to the river for your second crossing at the 3.5km point on a lovely section of single track through the bush. Climb back out of the valley, dodging a few kangaroos as you go, and you soon run past some large rock formations and then the remarkable Blue Lake at the 5.8km point and before a nasty little climb that deposits you at the finish line in the Yellow Gum Picnic Area. Well done!

 

River Crossings

All courses cross the Plenty River twice (the long course crossed 4 times) and will result in you getting your feet wet. Pending the rainfall leading up to the day these river crossings may be up to knee deep. We advise all runners to TAKE CARE crossing the river, and suggest that you walk across and take your time to avoid potentially falling in (although that would add to the adventure even more!)

Passing etiquette:

With a large number of runners sharing a narrow trail there are a few points of common etiquette when it comes to passing a runner on the trail that we’d like all participants to be aware of.

If you are a faster runner who wants to pass a slower runner on a narrow bit of track:

• let the slower runner know you are there and want to pass. Say something like, “Can I go past when there’s a chance...” or even ”Track please” if you’re short of breath. Then wait for a wider section of track – don’t just barge on through
• the slower runner can then say, “OK, go past on the right” or “just up here it’s a bit wider, go there”. But it’s good to acknowledge that you heard them and give direction for when they can go past
• it’s also nice for the faster runner to say, “thank you, keep going” once you’re past – share the love
• if you are going to pass then make sure you are actually faster, don’t pass if you are pushing 120% effort to get around them and then slow down afterwards
• slower runners don’t feel like you need to totally stop and bow down as a faster runner comes through, make space but keep trotting along as well

Click here to visit the Parks Victoria webpage for Yellow Gum Park