I've run the Macedon Ranges Walking Track more times than I can remember. Such a great loop not too far from Melbourne, and on the way up to the Goldfields. This time I thought I'd take advantage of having the day off and give it a little bit of a nudge to establish it as an FKT route.
After a leisurely start to the day, it was late morning and quite warm by the time I got up to Mt Macedon. I parked at the pub, and started my watch right at the entrance. I quick jog up the road before turning left on to Douglas Rd. This provides a nice little warm up before hitting the main climb of the route, the goat track leading up to the top of Mt Macedon. A bit of a jog / hike up for the next K and a half, trying not to burn too many candles this early in the loop. The tall open forest changes through the climb to a denser canopy, resulting in a ferny undergrowth that is fantastic to run through.
Once up the top, I put the foot down a little along the single track that traverses through the forest. About 3.5k of net downhill, and a lot of fun to zoom through. Turning right I made my way up to the top of Camels Hump, the highest point in the area. I climbed the stairs and circled the marker on the lookout platform, then headed straight back down the way I came. Crossing over Mt Macedon Rd towards Sanatorium Lake I was feeling good but the heat was starting to get to me, and I began wishing I had brought some water with me. Across Days Picnic Ground and through another beautiful ferny section along the eco trail, then out onto Zig Zag Track. I was hoping to go a little quicker on this downhill section, but my legs didn't seem to want to, so settled into a brisk jog.
I soon arrived at the Mt Towrong walking track and made my way past the cairn at the peak. It's much dryer on Towrong than Macedon and this is evident in the change of vegetation. Particularly on the western side where it is quite exposed with very little tree cover. This does provide great views over to Mt Macedon though. I took care on the rocky decent then popped out onto Anzac Rd. I had a rough plan of doing the loop in 90 minutes, looking down at my watch I realised I better get a move on. With legs that for whatever reason didn't want to move any faster, I dragged myself up the last little climb and then down the last few hundred metres to the pub.
Got it done in 1:29:33, so I was happy to duck under 90 mins, but this route can definitely be done faster. I look forward to seeing what someone else can do on it so I've got a target to aim for when I'm fit again.