Tan Track

No visit to Melbourne is complete without a walk, jog or run around Melbourne's iconic 'Tan Track', a 3.827km track around the perimeter of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Melbourne's most popular running route, The Tan is suitable for runners of all abilities on a gravel track except for a bitumen footpath along Anderson Street. Locals, visitors and famous alike now share the space as its international reputation has grown. Two digital clocks were installed in 2011 to help runners and walkers record their lap times. The clocks display the top 10 fastest times around the track. Two new digital clocks were installed in March 2024. The Tan Track in Melbourne, Australia is maintained by the City of Melbourne, with the support of the Bennelong Foundation. Walk Jog Run | The Tan On any given day/time, there are a mixture of walkers, joggers and runners and at times can be quite busy. The 3.8-km loop track is very easy to navigate with distance markers every 250m and fully floodlight (5am-Midnight). Tan Track Map The official start point of a clockwise lap is at the Pillars of Wisdom near the junction of Alexandra Avenue and Olympic Boulevard (opposite Swan Street bridge). Proceed east along Alexandra Avenue turning right onto Anderson Street* (footpath), turn right (just before Domain Road), a short distance veer right onto Birdswood Avenue past the main entrance of Royal Botanic Gardens (right), Shrine of Remembrance (left), onto Linlithgow Avenue back to Alexandra Avenue. *The one tough part of running the TAN is 'HeartBreak Hill' which is a 30m hill up Anderson Street, the rest being flat. Easy parking near all entrances and park on the opposite side which does not require paid parking. There are drinking fountains all around the Tan. Most convenient public toilets to access are inside the Anderson Street entry of the Royal Botanic Gardens, plus toilets and more facilities throughout the Royal Botanic Gardens and Kings Domain. Weather Melbourne Weather Name Origins: Tan It's officially named Tan Track, but known locally as The Tan Track or simply the Tan. The Tan was originally constructed in the early 1900's as a tanbark horse-riding track. The origins of the name are disputed: a surface of TAN-coloured stone aggregate or, the track is around the Royal BoTANic Gardens or, it once was covered with TAN bark. Record keeping Run The Tan is responsible for establishing and administering the policies and rules for officially recorded run times around the track. runthetan.net Fastest Lap The current record is 10 minutes and 8 seconds, run by Craig Mottram in 2006. He set this record whilst running with the Richmond Football Club during their pre-season training. Mottram gave the footballers a two-and-a-half minute head start and still managed to beat them comprehensively. Refer to the Hall of Fame on the Run the Tan website for the official Top 10 and Top 100 fastest male and female laps around The Tan and other interesting stats. Clubs & Groups The Tan Track is the home to many of Melbourne's most well-known running clubs and groups including: APSOC - Dyson Relays Athletics Victoria - XCR Tan Relays LilBig Run Club Melbourne Front Runners Melbourne Marathon Spartans Melbourne Midday Milers Melbourne Track Club OXAC / de Castella Runners Pulse Running Run the Tan - Run Club The 440 South Yarra The Crosbie Crew Victorian Road Runners Inc Vigor Running Source: runthetan.net Video's The joggers and walkers of Melbourne's Tan Track (2.35m) The Tan Running Track (27m) DJI Osmo raw footage Why people love The Tan run_the_tan