Schedule/Race Day Info – Blackwood

EVENT PROGRAM: The window below displays the event program for Race 1 of the 2025 Trail Running Series at Blackwood with all the race day info like event schedule, course information, car parking and more.

Read it ONLINE HERE

Download a PDF COPY HERE

Race Day Schedule

Sunday 1 June 2025

7:00am – 8:45amRace registration open
8:30amSTART – LONG COURSE (22km)
8:40amSTART – MEDIUM COURSE (15.8km)
8:50amSTART – SHORT COURSE (7.9km)
10:45amMedium and Short course presentations and spot prize giveaways
12:00pmLong course presentations and spot prize giveaways

Event expo

The Event Expo and Start / Finish area including sponsors displays, food / coffee for sale, live music, race commentary, social media boards, presentations and plenty more.

All in all it’s a lovely, welcoming environment for everyone to enjoy whether you are running or not. For a full list of services see the Event Expo page.

The location

Event centre and race finish line:
Blackwood Sports and Recreation Reserve – 31 Recreation Reserve Road, Blackwood VIC.

The historic village of Blackwood is located amongst the Lerderderg State Park, in the scenic Macedon Ranges just south of Trentham.  89 km north-west of Melbourne via the Western Highway it’s just over an hour from Melbourne.

Drive Time: 1hr 20 from the Melbourne city centre, going via Bacchus March.

Car parking: If the weather is dry we have permission to park on some private property directly opposite the Recreation Reserve. If it is wet then all parking will be on side roads such as along Recreation Reserve Rd, Simmons Reef Rd and other streets. Please be considerate of locals and don’t park across driveways.

The start

Starting procedure

All distances will start racing with a single wave start at the following start times.

  • 8:30am LONG COURSE – all runners start
  • 8:40am MEDIUM COURSE – all runners start
  • 8:50am SHORT COURSE – all runners start

Self-seeding

Please place yourself in the start chute according to your honest running ability, with fast runners near the front, recreational runners in the middle and those who are here to enjoy yourself towards the back.

Competitor number plates

Number plate identification

All competitors are required to wear their race number plate whilst running in the race. Numbers must be safely pinned to the front of your race top so it is clearly visible from the front.

  • GOLD number plates denote runners who have entered the entire Trail Running Series, doing all 3 of the events in the series.
  • RED, GREEN or BLUE number plates will be given to all other runners doing this race only, ie, who are not entered into the Series (Red –  Long, Green – Medium, Blue – Short courses)

If you have a GOLD number plate and are doing all races in the series please KEEP YOUR NUMBER PLATE and timing tag to use for all of your races in the series. We will not be re-issuing number plates to series runners.


Number plate collection

All runners must collect your number plate from the registration marquee on the morning of the race (other than those who pre-purchased postage of their plates beforehand). So make sure you arrive early enough to collect your plate before your race starts!

NEW FOR 2025 is the option to have your race plate posted to you. Competitors who enter RACE 1 (or the series) BEFORE 8.00am Monday 12th May 2025 have the option during the entry process to add on postage to have your number plate delivered to you $15

Once you have received your number plate (either via post or collection) you do not need to ‘report in’ or register at the event venue on race morning, just warm up, arrive at the start line ready to race!

FINISH LINE MEDALS – available for pre-purchase $9.95

In 2025 we are providing runners the opportunity to purchase a finisher medal before the race rather than including the cost of the medal in the entry fee for all runners. We have made this decision to keep entry fee costs down and to minimise the wastage of making and giving a medal to someone who does not want it.

We will award finish medals to those who purchased them from the registration marquee after your race – so if you ordered a medal THEN COME AND COLLECT IT ONCE YOU FINISH!

Medals can still be pre-purchased via the website. We will have a limited number of medals for sale on the day.

Headphones

We strongly encourage all runners NOT TO WEAR HEADPHONES or listen to music whilst running in the Trail Running Series events. This is primarily for your safety, so that runners wishing to overtake on a narrow section of track can communicate with you and advise where/how they’d like to pass without causing a crash. The courses also pass through some magnificent eucalypt bush land filled with birds and other wildlife that is all part of the trail running experience and if you’re pounding away to music you can’t hear that either!