The Tan Relays close Athletics Victoria's XCR season, and they are usually where the club premierships are settled. Round 10 of XCR'26 runs on Saturday 12 September 2026 at the Tan, the 3.8km gravel circuit around the Royal Botanic Gardens that Melbourne runners have measured themselves against for decades. Each athlete runs a single lap, Anderson Street hill included.
Team sizes vary by division rather than being fixed. Male Premier fields six runners and female Premier five, the middle divisions three to five, and the youth grades (U14 to U20) and masters grades (40+, 50+, 60+) run teams of three. Starts are staggered at two-minute intervals from 9:00am, men's open divisions away first, with racing running through to mid-afternoon.
This is a club event in the strict sense. Club administrators enter teams and individual athletes cannot self-enter. Team entries close Monday 7 September, with athlete membership approvals due by Wednesday 9 September, and competitors must be born in 2015 or earlier. Recent editions have drawn close to a thousand runners across the divisions. The Tan stays open to the public while the relays are on, and dogs are not permitted.
