Warburton Trail Fest

 Sat 6 – Mon 8 March 2027 (Labour Day long weekend), Warburton VIC: https://www.warburtontrailfest.com/

EXXXXXXTREME STOKE INCOMING: Join MUMC for a long weekend at the Warburton Trail Festival!

Warby Trail Fest runs over 3 days and there are a variety of different distances and events to choose from, from a 3km lilo derby to a 50km trail ultramarathon! This is as epic as trail festivals get, and also really accommodating to beginners or people who want to wing it and try something new (like the three thong thang). I've put this up early so you can start a training plan for some of the longer distances. Or if you aren't into the running (yet) but want to support your friend doing something epic/see what it's all about, come volunteer, enjoy the beautiful Warburton Valley, and cheer on club members on one of the days. Please scroll past the run details below for more planning info; the organiser has given us a generous discount + a few other details. This is an externally run event and will be treated as an independent trip, which means you are responsible for yourself when running.

The Races: 

Saturday

4.5km River Rapid Run: short and fun, with only about 100m of climbing. A great first trail race.

27km Redwoods Rush: runs through the famous Redwood forest. fast and flowy, It’s a good one if you’re new to trails but want to try something longer, with about 450m of gain.

50km Lumberjack Run: the big un. It has around 1,200m of climbing and a 9 hour cutoff.

Sunday

4.5km River Rapid Run: on again for anyone who missed it Saturday.

14km Sawmill Grove Run: a solid mid-distance with about 350m of gain.

22km Donna Double: You climb more than 1,000m in the first 8km up Mt Donna Buang, then bomb all the way back down. You'll be running alongside elite athletes trying to get their entry into the Golden Trail World Series grand finale in Europe. 

10km Little Joe’s Night Terror: a night run with about 500m of climbing. Bring a head torch!

Three Thong Thang: a race in only thongs (shorts permitted under the 3rd thong D:). Distance: TBC. It's pretty short, but the thongs need to stay intact the whole race. 

Monday

Lilo Dash ‘n Derby: 1.5km run up the river, 1.5km float back down. Bring a Lilo and a helmet (mandatory). 

Multiday events: If you're fiending for more fun on the trails, you can sign up for either of the multiday events below that include a mix of the different races available and make a whole weekend out of it. There are only limited spots in the multiday categories, so if you're interested in this, get your ticket soon as. I'm doing the Multiday Magic so let me know if you plan on doing a multiday and you can car pool with me. 

Multiday Magic: Saturday: 27km, Sunday: 14km + 10km night run, Monday: Lilo Derby.

Multiday Madness: Saturday: 50km, Sunday:  Donna Double + three thong thang + 10km night run, Monday: Lilo Derby.

Logistics: 

Warburton is about 1.5 hours drive from the clurb. I’m planning to be there on each day of the festival (looking at staying overnight on Sunday to Monday night) so there will definitely be a car going on Saturday and Sunday, so come for one race day or all three days! We may also be able to get a deal for group accomm through the race organiser if we can get a group together early, which is why i've put the meeting ahead of the summer break for those who are keen to commit and interested in staying overnight to race or volunteer.

Cost: get in early!

Prices go up in tiers, and the next increase is on 11 January. The event organiser has offered a really generous discount of 20% on single-day events and 30% on the multiday events and you'd also qualify for MUMCs event subsidy to help pay for the cost of entry. It would be amazing if you would consider volunteering before or after your event or racing one day and volunteering the next to cheer other runners and club members on as a thank you and make a epic weekend of it. At the meeting, we will go over some volunteering details. Since the discount code is for MUMC members only, I will not be posting it on the website, but if you want to sign up before the meeting, please shoot me an email @

Transport and logistics

We’ll sort out carpooling + some accomodation logistics on the 24th of november for those who are super keen so they can buy their tickets before the price increase on 13th of Jan and I can organise accommodation if needed (it gets very limited). I will also organise a meeting closer to the date to finalise car pooling for those who want to join later, along with other logistics.

Please shoot me an email if you have any questions!