The details on this website were updated on 11 April 2012 and are the final details for the 2012 event. The 2012 Marysville to Melbourne program containing all the details on this website plus additional diagrams, maps and sponsor offers can be downloaded from here.
Support Crews
Support Crews are mandatory for all individual competitors to drop off and collect the competitor’s equipment at the various transition areas along the course. Teams will also need a support crew but this role can easily be filled by your fellow team mates, as long as you are a little bit organised.
Guidelines for support crews
• Support crews may NOT provide any assistance to competitors at any point outside the designated transition areas. This extends to providing drinks whilst they are running, riding or paddling, and includes slip streaming or pacing riders on the bike or any other form of assistance that helps their forward progress. This will be strictly enforced with non-compliant teams penalised or disqualified from the event.
• We encourage teams and support crews to car pool where possible to ease traffic congestion at transition areas, on the roads and to save our precious fossil fuels. Note the restrictions on parking and access at T1 and T2 below.
• Allow yourself plenty of time to get from one transition area to the next. Parking will be tight at some transition areas and you may need to walk up to 500m from the car.
Transition area information for support crews
• We encourage all support crews to read the Course Description details above which explain each TA from a competitor’s perspective, but provide this additional information to help you best support your athletes.
• For all competitors: you may NOT receive any assistance inside the transition area from your support crew OTHER than at T4 and T5 and at the finish.
• For teams, only the team mate doing the next leg can wait in the designated transition area for your team mate. All other team mates, spectators and support crews must wait outside the TA.
• All transitions must take place within the designated transition area. Race bibs MUST NOT be removed until inside a transition area. This applies to teams and individual competitors.
• Teams, be sure to pass on the bib AND timing band to your next team-mate and fasten the timing band securely. If it falls off your time will not be recorded and you will have to pay for a replacement timing band ($100).
• Please follow the suggested travel routes for support crews between transition areas. These have been designed for competitor safety.
• Please respect other users of the parkland where the transition areas are located, we do not have exclusive access to any TA and there may be other people using these spaces.
Instructions for the start
Click here for a diagram of the start area
Start location: In the main street of Marysville (Murchison Street – Northern end)
Start time: 6:30am Sunday April 29th, 2012
Parking instructions:
• Support crews are best advised to park around the Marysville football ground off Falls Road and then walk the 300m to the start area on the main street.
• There is additional parking on the road sides of Murchison Street, Darwin Street, Sedgewick Street and Pack Road although please do not block in any local driveways.
General notes:
• Toilets will be available at the Marysville football ground, at the Visitors Centre and at Marysville Central shopping area.
• We encourage all individual support crews to drop your bikes off at T1 at Dom Dom saddle before going to the start in Marysville.
• There will be a coffee cart in the main street between 5:30am and 6:30am if you need a caffeine hit.
Instructions for T1
Click here for a diagram of the T1
Location: Dom Dom Saddle, Maroondah Highway - 17km north of Healesville. The TA is on the grass on the southern side of the road.
Transition opening times: Equipment must be dropped off / collected between: 4:30am – 9:30am
Recommended driving route from start to T1: Drive along the main road from Marysville back to Grantham on the Maroondah Highway, turn left and drive to Dom Dom saddle.
Special note: Due to parking limitations at T1, and to reduce traffic along the (narrow) Black Spur road during the ride leg, T1 at Dom Dom Saddle will be a ‘drop and go’ transition for individuals. This means that support crews for individual competitors CANNOT STOP AND WAIT FOR YOUR COMPETITOR TO FINISH THEIR RUN but must stop to set up their cycling equipment only and then leave Dom Dom Saddle ASAP to make space for others to do the same thing. In fact we even recommend that individuals drop off your cycling gear on your way to Marysville before the race rather than after you have started.
Team support crews also have restricted access and may only PARK ONE CAR at Dom Dom saddle. We suggest that all other support crew vehicles proceed through to Healesville and await your rider and support crew colleagues there (we’d suggest the ‘Beechworth Bakery’!).
Parking instructions:
• Only individual and / or team cars with the ‘Dom Dom Saddle parking pass’ on your dash board will be permitted to park at T1 (the parking pass will be given to individuals and the team runner at registration). All other support crew cars must keep going and ideally meet up at Healesville.
• There will be a designated ‘drop and go’ 5 minute parking area set aside for individual support crews on the left hand (southern) side of the road. Please use this to drop off your gear but depart immediately afterwards.
• For team support crews there are two designated parking areas – if you have a 4WD or SUV with higher than normal clearance please turn right (north) 100m before the saddle and park up on the hill. If you have a normal or low clearance car then please turn left (south) at the saddle and park on No. 8 road or as directed.
Running gear return:
• As there will be no support crews at T1 for individuals, you are advised:
• To put all your running gear into a bag with your race number on it before leaving T1 (numbered ‘Gear Drop’ bags can be collected at registration).
• We will transport your numbered gear drop bags from T1 to T3 (the start of the 2nd run leg) in time for individuals or their support crews to re-use this gear for the 15kmYarraTrail Run. (Refer to the ‘Equipment Transfers’ section below for more details).
General notes:
• There is no drinking water available at T1 – please bring your own.
• Bikes may be left anywhere within the fenced off transition area.
• There will be a coffee cart at T1 between 7:30am and 8:45am if you still need a coffee.
Instructions for T2
Click here for a diagram of the T2
Location: KinglakeTemporary Village, Heidelberg Road. Melway ref: p380, E11. The TA is on some grass at the northern end of village.
Transition opening times: Equipment must be dropped off/collected between: 7:30am – 11:45am
Special note: In order to minimise the traffic on the same roads the competitors will be riding on we recommend that support crews for individual competitors or for teams whose rider is doing both ride legs do not drive to T2 at Kinglake. The reason being that the most obvious route from Healesville to Kinglake and then from Kinglake to Eltham would see you driving on the same roads as the riders, so we suggest that you give us their hydration and nutrition to take to T2 for them and you sit back and have a coffee en route to T3. (Refer to the ‘Equipment Transfers’ section below for details).
Recommended driving route from T1 – T2: Drive down the Maroondah Highway to Healesville then turn onto the Healesville – Yarra Glen Road, then turn right onto the Melba Highway to drive up onto the ranges. Turn left onto the Kinglake – Healesville Road at the top of the hill and proceed to Kinglake.
Hydration / nutrition transport: Rapid Ascent will conduct a gear transport service to take your riders’ hydration / nutrition to T2 at Kinglake for you. (Refer to the ‘Equipment Transfers’ section below for details). Drinking water is also available at T2.
Parking instructions:
• Support crews are advised to turn into the Heidelberg – Kinglake Road and then turn left into the Kinglake Temporary Village to park for T2. Please park on the ring-road inside the Temporary Village.
• Watch for riders as you turn into and out of the village as riders also use this road.
Instructions for T3
Click here for a diagram of the T3
Location: Westerfolds Park on Fitzsimons Lane, Templestowe. Melway ref: p21, G12. The TA is in a large flat bitumen parking area that is basically immediately under the Fitzsimons Lane Bridge..
Transition opening times: Equipment must be dropped off/collected between: 8:30am – 2:00pm
Recommended driving route from T2 to T3: Drive back along the Kinglake – Healesville Road to the Melba Highway and turn right and proceed to Yarra Glen. At Yarra Glen, turn right into the Eltham - Yarra Glen Road (Symonds Street) to Kangaroo Ground where you turn left onto Main Road (sign posted to Eltham) and continue along this through Eltham, turn left at the roundabout to continue along Fitzsimons Lane and then turn right into Westerfolds Park 300m after the bridge over the Yarra River. Do NOT drive along Bells Hill Road and / or Mount Pleasant Road.
Parking instructions:
• Support crews are best to approach T3along Fitzsimons Lane from the north. Turn right into Westerfoldspark and then follow the subsidiary roads in The Park to the lower parking areas nearest the river. The nearest car park is car park K ‘River Car Park’ from which the TA is a 200mwalk along the Yarra Trail under the bridge.
• Please do not turn left (East) off Fitzsimons Lane into Westerfolds Park as this is restricted to riders only – vehicle access is via a right hand turn to the West 300m further on,
• Watch for riders as you come down Main Road and turn into Fitzsimons Lane at the large roundabout,
• At T3 please also keep an eye out for, and give respect to, other park users as it could be also busy with families and kids,
Running gear return:
• Individuals’ running gear that has been brought from T1 at Dom Dom saddle will be placed around the periphery of the TA fence,
• If you are a support crew you may access it before your competitor arrives and lay it out for them,
General notes:
• Drinking water is available from the public toilets near the support crew carpark,
• There will be a coffee cart at T3 between 10:00am and 1:00pm if you need another a caffeine hit,
Instructions for T4
Click here for a diagram of the T4
Location: Eaglemont Tennis Club, The Boulevard. Melway ref: p21, H11.The TA is at the far end of the car park.
Transition opening times: Equipment must be dropped off / collected between: 9:30am – 4:00pm.
Recommended driving route from T3 to T4: Drive along Main Road and veer left onto Rosanna Road (which becomes Lower Heidelberg Road) and continue along Lower Heidelberg Road through the round-about at Burke Road to the next round-about approx400m later and take the 3rd left in the round-about turning into Warncliffe Road. Turn left onto The Boulevard and then take the first right into the TA.
Parking instructions:
• Turn off The Boulevard 100m before its intersection with Burke Road.
• Park in the car parking area at the bottom of the hill. The TA is on the other side of the play equipment beside the bush.
General notes:
• Drinking water is available from the water fountain in the park area.
• Porta loos will also be available.
• Support crews can help your competitors carry their boat from the transition area to the kayak launch site on the river (refer to the TA notes under Leg 4 above).
Instructions for T5
Click here for a diagram of the T5
Location: Dights Falls, Trenerry Crescent, Abbotsford. Melway Ref: p44, F3. The TA is on the grass on the right hand (western) side of the works buildings down by the river.
Transition opening times: Equipment must be dropped off/collected between: 11:00am – 6:00pm
Recommended driving route from T4 to T5: Exit T4 and turn left onto The Boulevard and then left into Lower Heidelberg Road and then left into Hoddle Street. Before crossing the Eastern Freeway turn left into Noone Street and then turn right into Trenerry Crescent, go under the freeway and then turn left into the car park at the top of the rise.
Parking instructions:
Park in the car park on Trenerry Crescent beside the Eastern Freeway and walk 200m down the path and steps to the TA beside the river.
General notes:
• Support crews can help your competitor portage their boat around Dights Falls through T5. (Refer to the Leg 5 TA notes)
• Drinking water is available from the public toilets beside the car park.
• There will be a coffee cart at T5 between 1:30pm and 5:00pm if you need more coffee to get you through to the finish line!
Instructions for the finish
Click here for a diagram of the finish area
Location: The Yarra’s Edge precinct, Lorimer Street, Docklands. Melway Ref: p2E, F9. The finish line is on the paved footpath area in front of The Red Onion Café.
Finish line opening times: 1:00pm – 8:30pm
Parking instructions:
Park in the public car park just off Lorimer Street beside Point Park and then walk 200m along the paved area towards the City OR park in the City Link Information Centre car park on the opposite side (southern side) of Lorimer Street OR park in the parking areas around the business park on the southern side of Lorimer St.
General notes:
• You can help your competitor get out of their boat and help lift their boat onto the jetty when they finish. We then encourage you to remove the boat from the jetty and put it on your car as soon as possible after they have finished.
• The Red Onion Café is the official M2M café and bar and we encourage you to buy yourself a drink and a bite to eat as you wait for and then celebrate the accomplishments of your team.
• There will be a sponsors’ expo with a range of displays and information set up on the promenade around the finish line.