Melbourne's Famous Tan Track

This iconic Melbourne loop is where many of Australia's best runners have tried to better their times on a fast lap of "The Tan". This 3.8km loop of the Royal Botanical Gardens is close to the centre of Melbourne's CBD and is fully floodlit until midnight. While the official start and end point of a clockwise loop is at the "Pillars of Wisdom" monument, some like to get "Heartbreak Hill" up Andersen Street out of the way early and start at the corner of Anderson Street and Alexandra Avenue.

Head up the Anderson Street footpath - a hill of roughly 30m vertical gain over about 500m and follow the dirt path around the corner alongside Birdwood Avenue.

After the steep pinch of Anderson Street enjoy the flat and then flowing downhill along the gravel path down to Queen Victoria Gardens.

Follow the curve around until you are running parallel to the Yarra River for a final flat 1,2 km stretch back to where you started.

There are distance markers every 250m and it's floodlit until midnight.