14 replies to this topic

[Whom]

I have searched this sight and cannot seem to find what I am looking for.

Does anybody know of a site where I can look up distances and get maps of various preset runs around Melbourne?

I am also interested in a site that allows you to plot a run and have it advise the distance. Have tried www.whereis.com.au, but you need street nos for each turn.

Thanks

[Pasty]

Whom,

There is nowhere that i know of that has such information at present (or at least, it is scattered far and wide). There are some maps on Nike Running but I don't know any others. I know that Kevin Tiller (CoolRunning's administrator) has a goal of having an Australian Running Guide.

I'd like to come up with a list of runs (please feel free to contributre) that we can then map/describe the route.  Kevin, what do you think?

Some obvious routes to start with...

Melbourne Run Routes
Route          Location
------------------------
The Tan track (City's botanical gardens)
Princes Park  (inner north)
Capital City Trail
Bay foreshore
Albert Park
Various Yarra trails
Dandenong trails

Any others?

Pasty

[Ultraphil]

Hobsons Bay tourist Trail - Route 11!

[Whom]

As reasonably new to running, cannot add to your list. But is an excellent idea.

Being a bit older to the www world, what would be really cool would be the plotting option. Initialy enter in the known runs, such as the list you've started, then have members add their own favourites.

How does that sound??

I would think someone like whereis.com.au or nowwhere.com.au maybe interested in this after all traffic is traffic. They could have the "plotting" traffic and coolrunning the "database look up" traffic. Marriage made in Heaven

[Grey beard]

I'd like to see some good circuit routes listed (especially in the 16 to 32 km range, pleasant, undulating, scenic...)

With a circuit you can drive there, leave you car and come back to it.

One I'll nominate (only a little contrived - to suit where I live) is Nepean Highway (Cheltenham) north to Gardenvale (mostly shared path), then via  Elwood canal to the beach, then the Bay Trail south to Charman Road Cheltenham & return to Nepean Hwy. Approx 32 km. Good start/finish locations include Ricketts Point tea house, Elwood/North Road kiosks,  Southland (bus interchange) or Cheltenham station (if you need public transport).

[MS]

I think that it’s a great idea that we start collating our fav run.  No doubt it will make get the Australian Running Guide up and running.

My fav is the Beacon Cove / Beach Road paths.  I’m sure lots of others run this too and may correct my distances.

Starting near Crown (Cnr Clarendon St & Whiteman St) following the tram tracks to Station Pier (approx 3km), Station Pier to St Kilda Pier (another 4.6km), St Kilda Pier to North Road Pier Brighton (another 4.5 - 5km) then turn around and head back.  Total of 24-25km.  There are about 10-12 water fountains between Station Pier & North Road Pier.  At the city end you could also join up to the Capital City Trail.

One of the best things about this run is that there are only 3 roads to cross each way, all in the first 3 km.

Hope to see some coolrunning T's on this run soon.  :)

[PEEKIE]

Knowing km's of runs can be difficult sometimes but I've found by riding them on my bike first with a bike computer that measures speed, rpm and more importantly distance in km's is the best way to go. I've got a map which i made, took ages, photocopied the pages from the melways of the eastern suburbs of melbourne, stuck it all together, marked out my trails, (note though some of the pages-roads overlap and are placed on more then one page of the melways, and have it on the wall. Have out and back runs, loops runs, two and three shorter circuit runs which you can add together. It's cool. You never know your neighbourhood till you sus out the map.  :)

[mickmcc]

For those in the west of Melbourne, the Maribyrnong River has a bike path most of its length, with some distances marked (not sure if they are accurate). Upstream from near the lookout at Lily St West Essendon is gravel for several km. The trail runs for many km's from there (~10? km to beyond Brimbank Park, but I haven't run the whole length so I don't know if it changes back to concrete/asphalt). There is a map at:

this site.

The river winds around a lot, so you can run various loops by cutting back to your start via streets. There are few if any water taps.

Mick

[PEEKIE]

Has anyone worked out distances from the melways by using the 500m to a square distance? Is this accurate?

[Ultraphil]

Peekie - I bleieve there is one regular contributor to this forum who i believe is  an expert at measuring via Melways! hope he reads this soon and comments!

Anyone - I'm looking for distances to compare with my map measuring/computer measuring for:

Lara to Werribee - off freeway.

Werribee to Altona - off freeway, down queen st.

St Kilda Espanade to Frankston (40km?)

Thanks

Phil

[mickmcc]

Peekie,

It is 400 m to one Melway grid sqaure for the blue maps, and 200 m for the red maps of the city centre. I use the grids, and they seem to work within ~5% I'd guess. For training runs, that is close enough for me.

Cheers,

Mick

[GEMQ26]

The Maribynong Trail is basically all dirt from Lily St to Brimbank Park, where the track is then asphalt. The distance is approximately 12km from Lily street to Brimbank Park.
The run from my place in Keilor to Lily Street is about a 30 km return run. Fantastic place to run, plenty of wildlife including the odd snake or kangaroo.
For all those people who enjoy pain (ie Hill running) Brimbank Park has some rippers.

[CRL]

Hi Phil,
It's 6.4k from Pier St in Altona down Queen St to the roundabout at Point Cook Rd.  I guess the rest of the distance to Werribee would depend on exactly what route you take (avoiding the freeway of course).  
I hope that little bit helps ... if you still want a car measurement, feel free to post some more detail about your route, I'm sure to be driving that way again    :)

[shark]

Whom & others

Best way is to measure by bike - it's accurate, but time consuming.

You can buy a cd of UBD on Disk which gives a measuring option.  I use it regularly and it has high accuracy (+/- 2%).  I expect Melways would have a similar offer and is probably even better.  My software is a few years old but is still good.

S

[rohan]

bicycle victoria is a good source of info on trails... particularly good for those of us who jog with a pram, as bike trails are smooth with relatively few interuptions.
from memory their site is www.bv.com.au  
, but i could be wron on that