Yes yes, I know, I am late to the game!

What can I say, it was so hot that I needed a week to recover? Yeah pretty much.

I’m not going to lie, I feel like I have been full steam ahead, do not pass go, blinkers on since I crossed the finish line at Tarawera almost a month ago. I came straight home, straight back to work, straight back into training and my body and mind have not a clue what the hell is going on.

So of course it seemed like a great idea to throw a race in the middle of all that chaos!

But it’s Warby trail fest, one of the biggest events on the Victorian Trail running calendar. I wasn’t about to miss out now was I.

I’ve had a complicated relationship with this event (see here and here), mostly because of there it sits in the calendar. I’m always coming off a New Zealand adventure and but FOMO gets me and I end up signing up and it’s touch and go (sometimes just go!) as to whether I show up or not.

But this year, I didn’t even think about. I had such a good time last year that I figured it would be just as good even if my trail running buddies weren’t joining me this year. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.)

Warburton ‘Warby’ trail festival ‘fest’ takes place on the Labour Day long weekend in the smallish town of Warburton about 76km east of Melbourne. A lot of trail events say ‘there’s a distance for everyone’ but they are all at the same time, so good luck having your whole family or friendship group able to participate.

This is not the case at Warby. The races are held from the Saturday morning, all the way through until Monday morning, with distances ranging from 4km to 50km, a night run, a lilo derby, a walk and a quick trot in your jocks if you are that way inclined. The days are packed out with speaking events, movies, food trucks and like all Tour De Trail events, finishes at the local pub. There is literally something for everyone and folks are encouraged to come down for the long weekend, stay a while, eat, run, hang out and volunteer.

I’ve ran the 50k and the 27k before, both which occur on the Saturday. The 22km dash up Donna Buang takes place on the Sunday and this year was part of the new Golden Trail Series to allow the speeding folks to qualify to get into the big dance in Europe later in the year. A massive win for the local runners to get some support to make their running dreams come true.

The best thing about the 27k, it starts at the very reasonable hour of 8:30 am. It’s a relatively simple course, run along the aqueduct until you hit the redwoods forest, turn around and come back again. For newbies reading this, there is absolutely no way you could get lost!

The trail is super runnable and wide. It’s pretty much a road. I would reccommend a plush shoe through because it can be rocky and you can get sore feet. There are a few parts that can be really sloshy if it is wet but that is only a small section and it is mostly a well draining road and trails.

Unfortunately due to an insane heat wave with four days plus of 40 degrees Celsius (104 plus F), all the races in the morning had to start an hour early which made my quite reasonable trip to the other side of town an ungodly wake up. Luckily for me, I had planned a least a little bit in advance and had my flasks in the fridge, change of clothes and all my snacks all laid out ready to go.

Luckily parking and bib pick up is really easy and I arrived with plenty of time to sort myself out.

I’m not going to lie to you, there is a bit of a climb on a road to get from the river (100% recommend getting in after your race) and the aqueduct trail. Martyr Road, with a gradient of 27%, is apparently one of the steepest bitumen roads in Melbourne, at least if you believe all the cycling forums.

But once you are on the aqueduct its smooth sailing. For those who are concerned about water spots and aid stations, there are two on the course, one at about 5k and one at about 11km but you hit them both twice. If it wasn’t 35 degrees, I would have probably just gone with the two bottles in the front of my pack, 1L total and refilled as required but this year I took my bladder as well and only filled one of my bottles at the last aid stations, and grabbed a sneaky icy pole too!

My only tip for this race is to make sure you have your phone out ready for when you go into the redwoods. You are going to want to take some pictures. There are race photographers in there and usually a dude playing the cello. Once you get there, you turn straight around and head back the way you came.

This year we had the 50k runners on course as well, as their course was cancelled due to the heat and an contingency course put in place, but usually it’s just the other folks in your race who you get to cheer on as you go.

Pre-warning, you can usually hear the finish line before you can see it. The last few k’s bends around the river as you make your way back to your car passed all the families and tourists out enjoying the long weekend.

Personally, I struggled with this one. I literally ran alone which is really odd, usually I’m with strangers, chatting and cursing our own decisions. I had to keep reminding myself that I made my mates run this last year and I made them run each teeny tiny hill, so I would have to do the same. I was proud that I kept going and despite the heat, managed to take a few minutes off last years time.

After all my fuelling problems at my last few races, I cut my ClifBloks in half and had lots of jelly beans as well. I managed to eat something with each 20 minute beep of my watch and had tail wind in each bottle and that sneaky icy pole too.

It really is an amazing event. Its a fanatic weekend to see all your trail friends. If you are new to racing or just want a training run for your next grand adventure, make sure you sign up next year. There aren’t many events in Victoria that are as well run as this so jump on board. All the details can be found at here. Add it to the calendar for next year or sign up for another TourdeTrails event, hopefully I’ll see ya there.

Make sure you bring a change of clothes, just in case you end up in the river afterwards. Just make sure you bring a friend to help you get out!