FAQ

  • V/line tickets information 

    1800 800 007

    There is a great train/bus service from Melbourne Southern Cross Station to Halls Gap Visitors Information Centre. This only costs just over $7. The train goes from Southern Cross Station (centre of Melbourne) to Ararat/Ballarat and the Bus goes from Ararat/Ballarat to Halls Gap. 


    Melbourne to Halls Gap 

    Via Ararat

    Leave Tuesday, Friday 11:16am - Arrival in Halls Gap 2:39pm

    Sunday 12:14pm - Arrival in Halls Gap 3:39pm


    Via Ballarat - Stawell

    Monday - Friday Leaving 8:36am - Arrival in Halls Gap 1:37pm


    Halls Gap to Melbourne

    Sunday

    Departure 9:30am - Arrival 1:48pm via Ararat

    Departure 2:40pm - Arrival 6:48pm

    Departure 3:39pm - Arrival 8:48pm via Dunkeld


    Monday, Tuesday 

    Departure 9:15am - Arrival 1:31pm  

    Departure 3:43pm - Arrival 7:47pm 


    Tuesday

    10:51am departure - arrival 2:11pm via Ararat


    *Please do not email singletrack enquiring about this. It is not our service, please call the V/line number above. 

  • This is another ongoing conversation that we are having internally.

    We certainly don't have to give any prize money out at all. Some of our events we don't give any to any of the races. There is also no substantial evidence that prize money even boosts the participation levels of a race. The only benefit that can be seen from offering prize money is drawing a more competitive field.

    In some ways not offering prize money is a smarter move financially and administratively. We get no one question the fact that we don't give prize money when we don't, but when we do give prize money, people want to ask why it is distributed the way it is, or why we should even give it out since they see trail running as a participation sport and it should just be given out at random or not at all.

    So why do we give prize money?

    Our current answer is that it contributes to professionalisation of the sport. Even though we are not offering much prize money, it is a start, and by giving out a little on big fake cheques it goes a long way. It makes the top performing runners in the sport feel appreciated and makes them want to continue to work hard, perform well and be recognised. This also brings the attention of brands, who see the exposure these athletes get and want to use this to promote their products.

    Now this might not be seen as a good thing to some people, that we are celebrating the faster runners because they're fast. But that is the reality of sport. People don't put up posters of me or any random trail runner on their walls, they put up posters of Courtney Dauwalter. Similar to other sports and their heroes like Serena Williams and Eliud Kipchoge. The faster runners become professional, they work hard, they win races and then their stories are shared and followed and that's how heroes are made. This then elevates the status of the sport and then ultimately inspires people to get out onto the trails. 

    So in some small way, by offering prize money, we are trying to elevate the profiles of Australian trail runners. Currently there are no full time trail runners in Oz, and all the heroes of the sport are from US and Europe. But there are some Aussies who are starting to change this and we think that we are playing a small role in this. 

    By boosting the profile of the sport, sharing athlete storylines and tying them to our events, we are not only growing the sport as a whole, but hopefully growing our events.

  • It’s not conventional sharing this in detail but we are so very proud of our events and the value for money they represent so here is an explanation to offer a deserved understanding of everything that goes into the Price for race entry.

    There is no easy way to explain / understand less you’ve directly done each micro aspect of event production directly. It’s easy to assume it’s less involved than it is. 

    Firstly, from our perspective you could put events into three camps: 

    1. Those with super high quality production, safety practices, course marking and overall facilitated end-to-end amazing experiences conducted in incredible, often inconvenient locations. Let’s call this A-Standard for ease of this. We at SingleTrack aspire to be defined as this. 

    2. Those with moderate levels of the above variables, perhaps suboptimal course marking, perhaps questionable depth and breadth of medical and safety resources and low production and facilitated experiences. Great event, though sometimes a little loose around the edges. Hard to see these gaps till something goes pear shaped. 

    3. Finally those that don’t worry about the A-Standard variables summarised. These have their place as minimalist events but participants in general should expect a very low cost of entry as it’s swapped with little effort and/or incurred expense.

     

    At SingleTrack, we try to produce and deliver A-Standard events for B-standard entry prices. 

    You could split costs into a few key defining categories:

    • Course and Trail (scoping, design and mapping, marking and de marking)

    • Risk, Safety Management & Medical - it is the main requirement for an event to ensure the participants safety and not overload the surrounding health and rescue services. Paying for Doctors, Nurses and many First Aiders for multiple days really adds up.

    • Fees and Permits from all the various authority bodies involved. 

    • Operations: Transportation and Logistics (to move goods around: to location, at location and back); Roads and Traffic Management; set up, pack down etc. in our cases usually about 14-pallets equivalent worth of stuff is moved into the region for production. 

    • Gear storage. We got about 30 pallets worth of gear all up in different nooks and crannies. Not a garage type scale. 

    • Cost of assets: the things that are used come from somewhere and they come at a cost, though fortunately they last a good many years. 

    • Timing - big difference between good and okay and each split time and day has additional cost. 

    • GPS tracking and monitoring: in the case of GPT everyone is issued with trackers so we (and your family) know exactly where you are at all times. 

    • Telecommunications. In the case of GPT we will have 11-starlink connections mobilised along with a number of other fancy receptors and receivers to enable effective on course communications between our aid station leaders and safety team back to race HQ. Reliable communications are central to a safely conducted event.

    • Aid Station supplies and operations. In general, all commodity stuff: crisps, fruit, lollies etc though the stuff that matters costs a little more in time; try boiling 380 potatoes the day before Race starts! Quite an event in itself. And you should try our Danish Pastries at the aid stations. A lot of folk say they love the range and standard that we provide. 

    • Lots of other variable costs such as participant bibs, medals, merchandise, banners.

    • Toilets and amenities; it’s not by accident that it seems at our events there is always a port-a-loo when you seem to need it and they are not always straightforward placements. 

    • Equipment Hire plus Sound and commentary. It’s a central pillar to a great village vibe and experience. 

    • Crew related expenses: travel, accommodation, meals and our team's time. In the case of GPT we will have folk on ground for one-week prior and four days after. She’s a mission. 

    • Prize money and awards. We value our elites committing their bodies and minds to our events and we think it’s only fair they get rewarded with a chance to earn some coin. We are a believer in contributing more here than what we should do to be financially responsible but again, we value their support and we think events are best when every standard of athlete is represented. 

    • Photography, videography and content. We have to capture memories. 

    • Participant transportation; in the case of GPT we must transport over 100 athletes each day to and from start and finish points over four days. We have got 2 x Coaches, 2 x Coasters and 4 x 10-seaters exclusively to move the many athletes around and we will have a combined 90+ hours of driving time scheduled by our athlete shuttle transport network. 

    • Venues and precinct hire; there is no free lunch in venues and places. 

    • Waste management; we do our best to minimise but it all adds up. 

    • Volunteer engagement. We love and value our team of volunteers. We respect them by providing a tremendous swap of value through the supply of great kit, meals, and race entry credit, so there is a very real and substantial cost involved. It’s all deserved and we are grateful for our extended team. 

    • Sales and Marketing and Graphic Design directly associated. It’s our engine. All the other stuff is crucial but this matters to drive sustainability of the event. 

    • Business management such as payroll, accounting, insurances. All the boring stuff but very involved. Someone has to do it. Many people assume that insurance must be to blame for high prices, however, through the support of various governing bodies Event producers like ours and others are afforded very attractive and reasonable access to insurance. 

    • Event production and project management. You would not think it but we are constantly in the depth of planning for all our events and even the following year’s editions. It’s an always on affair this event game.

    We will not be profiting in this event for a number of years though it is our ambition to turn a profit eventually. A profitable business does not go broke; we are here for the long game with a bucket load of foolish ambition, but we are very good at this and we put on a great event. 

    We would love to see you come along to one of our epic adventures. 

    The SingleTrack Events Team