You've seen the tee shirts out and about, now live the dirty reality!
Yes, it has now passed into running lore that Bitumen is Boring and so the Salomon Trail Run Series is back bigger and dirtier than ever for 2012.
Get your running shoes on, smell the fresh eucalypt air and join us running through fern-fringed valleys, weaving through towering stands of gums and sweeping along flowing trails beside rivers and creeks.
This year you'll enjoy the singletrack more than ever as the series expands to four events incorporating two stunning new bush environments and two favourites from last year.
Trails for everyone, beginners to bush running bullets...
The Salomon Trail Running Series is designed to present trail running for all that it can be: scenic, accessible, not overly technical and fun for everyone. Many people think all trail running events are 50km+ and over mountain ranges – well they can be, but they can also be short, rewarding, close to home and enjoyable for everyone – and that’s what the Salomon Trail Running Series is all about.
Each event is held in a different locations and includes races of two different distances: a short course race of 5-7km and long course of 10-14km, so now just about anyone can come and run in the wilderness
The 2011 series was a terrific success with over 700 runners attending each event and a terrific vibe at the start finish and out on the trails. The 2012 series is set to take this to a new level as more and more people join the trail running revolution.
Proposed dates and locations for the 2012 series are as follows:
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Sunday 24 June Studley Park, Kew, Melbourne: 5km / 10.8km
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Sunday 29 July Plenty Gorge: 6.4km / 11.8km
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Sunday 26 August Silvan, Dandenong Ranges: 7.3km / 14.3km
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Sunday 23 September Anglesea, Great Ocean Road: 7.9km / 14.6km + the new Surf Coast Century, a new 100km ultra marathon (on Sept 22).
The series is more about pleasure than pain and will appeal to everyone from fun runners through to elite runners – all of whom will get a life-lifting boost from the beautiful environment and natural terrain included in each race. These are events as much about place than pace.
Each race is conducted in a simply stunning location but each is designed to be 
easy–moderate in difficulty; there will be no real killer moments, killer hills or killer technical features. You will experience wilderness that gets the appreciation factor motoring as hard as your legs. A sense of being in a fantastic part of the world is part and parcel of what makes trail running so much better than boring bitumen.
Trail running. For anyone pulling on a pair of running shoes, it’s the 'new black' in fitness pursuits, and is set to boom in popularity. And let's face it, there's no shortage of beautiful places in which to run so come and join us as we take you to four of Melbourne’s greatest because BITUMEN IS BORING!
* Race #4 at Anglesea will be the Series Finale and will, as a separate but complementary event, include a new, major ultra marathon called the Surf Coast Century that is open to individuals (100km), and relay teams of up to 4 (25-50km legs each). www.surfcoastcentury.com.au.