Date
26 November 2016
Event organiser
Review
On a cold and breezy late November evening, my running buddy and I took on the 12km Afterglow Trail Run along Victoria’s surf coast.
Most runners had embraced the challenge to wear their best glow gear – us included. There was plenty of fluorescent running gear on show as well as glow sticks and compulsory head lamps.
Pre-race smiles with our glow sticks and head lamps
Starting just before dusk at the Southside cat park past Bells Beach, the first kilometre was pretty congested as we ran along a single file coastal track. The course opened up when we hit Bells Beach car park and soon after we were putting our fresh legs to the test with a 500m run along the sand at Bells Beach. At the end of the beach we patiently waited for our turn to take the short stair climb back to the car park.
From there we followed the gravel track inland through heath before coming back to the cliffs at Jan Juc. As the sun set the view over the ocean was stunning and there was no chance of getting lost as we followed the sound of african drums beckoning us along the undulating trail.
Another decent to the beach and then a steep climb up at ‘Boobs’ surf break, before we rejoined the Surf Coast Walk trail. Now dark, we turned our head lamps on and trotted behind a glow of runners lighting the way ahead of us. Having past the half way mark, we jogged past Jan Juc beaches, to Eagle Rock, onto the boardwalk at Spring Creek, past the Torquay SLSC and eventually, into town.
Cruising past Point Danger we picked up pace along the sealed walking track before joining the sand just past Bombaras Torquay. This is where I was most grateful for a good quality head lamp as we tackled super wet and spongey sand and the odd rogue incoming wave.
Afterglow start line
At the end of the beach we ascended into sand dunes before connecting with a walking track that took us back towards Torquay and to the bright and shiny finish line.
Event highs
- Unique, fun event
- Great way to ease into trail running without needing to by all the gear
- Well organised event with helpful information and clear instructions
- On time bus drop offs and start
- Super friendly runners who got into the spirit of the event
- Stunning views of the Surf Coast and bushland
- Challenging and varied course
- Only 1.5 hours from Melbourne
- Start and finished at Bombaras where you could enjoy a post-race beer
- Very reasonable registration cost – $45
Event lows
- Course length inaccurate – my mate’s and my GPS watches clocked us running 13.3kms
Event score
- 8/10
I forgot my headlamp so I bought one from Rays Outdoors on the way to the race