The track is an absolute gem, passing through some seriously wonderful countryside and heritage areas of the past gold rush days.

There are four sections of the Goldfields Track which cater perfectly for day trippers whether they be walkers or bike riders where alternative routes bypass the rougher more technical sections of the track.

Eureka Track links Mount Buninyong to Creswick, Wallaby Track connects Creswick to Daylesford, Dry Diggings Track joins Daylesford to Castlemaine and the Leanganook Track ties Castlemaine to Bendigo.

Here is a story about my friends and I running the Goldfields Track.

Running the length of the Goldfields Track was one that I had been contemplating since early 2020.

My friends Ross McPhee and Simon Austin were entered in the Canberra Marathon and had been training at full-pace until COVID-19 struck, so we decided to take on another challenge, the 210km Goldfields Track.

A series of longer reconnaissance runs made their way into our training schedule, the first being the Leanganook Track.

On June 5 the three of us caught the train down to Castlemaine and commenced the 60km run back to Bendigo, joined along the way by our friend Craig Feuerherdt.

The Leanganook Track passes through the heavily excavated regional gold diggings on the outskirts of Castlemaine, passing the impressive brick remains of the Garfield Water Wheel in Chewton.

After meandering through more diggings, the track passes up and over the highest point of the Goldfields Track, Mount Alexander at 744m above sea-level, before running alongside the Coliban Main Water Channel providing a gentle down gradient into the Goldfields Track.

The next reconnaissance run was in July when we ran from Daylesford to Castlemaine, a 60km stretch which passes through gold diggings south of Castlemaine.

It was around this time COVID-19 cases started to spike in Victoria, which now meant group running was out of the question.

We continued to train during the months of lockdown and amidst speculation as to when restrictions would ease, we finally set Friday September 25 as the start date for our Goldfields Track adventure.

Excitement was building but so too was a ferocious cold front from deep in the Southern Ocean. The forecast for the Friday and Saturday was not looking good.

The early rise, breakfast and drive to Mount Buninyong was full of banter and some trepidation as sleet was encountered just outside of Hepburn Springs before the rain came.

On arrival to the top of Mount Buninyong it felt as though snow would fall at any minute. Spot trackers were engaged, watches locked onto GPSs, gloves and buffs warmly administered and the 9am start time ticked over.

Craig wished us luck as we then set off down the slippery zig-zag decent off Mount Buninyong on the 210km odyssey back to Bendigo.

Our high spirits dulled the freezing cold weather, the ferns and trees helped block the winds. Soon after arriving at Buninyong we were greeted by my family along the roadside.

As we passed through the usually busy Creswick Regional Park there were no campers or keen gold diggers trying their luck, as it was simply too cold.

Speaking of cold, before we knew it the rain started to fall and soon after it was snowing.

The landscape started turning white and the snowflakes were now very large on approach to St Georges Lake.

Our friends Lisa and Rebecca Wilkinson joined us for a small pacing section through the snow, before being joined by other pacers who supported us all the way through to Daylesford.

Before too long it It was dark, and headlamps lit up the narrow single track besides Sailors Creek, but being very technical it was hard to run with any rhythm.

Nearing midnight, the temperature had dropped and running jackets and gloves did not come off.

Stopping at check points meant the body temperature dropped rapidly and before long our we were shivering from head to toe.

It was time consuming at each checkpoint to remove gloves, charge phones and watches and to keep electronics dry let alone eating and replenishing supplies.

Craig had set up next to the Chocolate Mill and had mentioned the temperature while minus one, felt like minus seven.

Warm soup was a welcome treat before donning the gloves and heading off into the darkness towards Vaughan Springs, a three-hour stretch.

I was struggling with sore quadriceps and after calculating the distance and time remaining I decided to withdraw from the attempt shortly before arriving at Vaughan Springs.

Ross and Simon tried to help and see if they could get me to Vaughan Springs, but the race for me had come to a disappointing end.

Ross and Simon were now on their own and quickly completed the section between Vaughan Springs and Fryerstown where Craig and I met them.

Their next stop was just 3km south of Chewton and while the sun had now risen, the relentless cold persisted.

They made good time climbing over Mount Alexander, helped by warming weather.

Family and friends met up with them, in addition to fellow Bendigo running partner Brian 'Scottish' Watson who paced with them for most of the way back.

More friends met Ross and Simon at several locations on the outskirts of Bendigo, all the while the weather gods turned on them again with several heavy downpours.

They were determined to keep moving as they sensed their finish would be well within the time set by George Mihalakellis in 2018.

George had set the bar at 35 hours and two minutes, albeit with significantly warmer conditions.

The finish line was at the Bendigo Railway Station on the western platform which made for a climatic finish with the runners needing to make their way over the footbridge.

As they descended the stairs they were welcomed by a small group of family and friends, cheering them across the finish line.

They had taken nearly three hours off the official fastest known time (FKT) completing the run in 32 hours and 15 minutes, a phenomenal effort given the conditions.

After I withdrew from the run I contemplated deeply and on reflection concluded that stresses in the weeks prior had proven the difference.

However, I was determined to finish the run so I decided to take on the Self Supported category which allowed caching of supplies, but no pacing was allowed nor any pre-arranged support.

The category's record time of 41 hours and 49 minutes was set by Peter Munns and Peter Clarke in 2017.

To achieve my goal of 36 hours the weather needed to be cool so that water supplies and weight could be kept to a minimum.

My training was generally light for the first week and patellofemoral pain basically stopped me in my tracks.

I had never experienced knee pain before and a visit to my 'witch doctor' and a session of dry needles to the glutes and quads did the trick.

I continued training before eventually setting a November start date.

The week prior I contacted the FKT website and posted my forthcoming attempt as well as informed the two Peters who provided some helpful tips.

An early start was planned to kick off from Bendigo Railway Station at 5am on November 6 and after some breakfast I was on my way.

The weather forecast was partly cloudy with a top of 20, overnight dropping to around six. degrees and Saturday cloudy with a top on 12 ; perfect for running!

I started feeling really good and made it up and over Mount Alexander around 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

By Chewton, another 15 minutes was in the bank and on reaching Vaughan Springs another 15 minutes. Quad soreness returned after around 60km and constant self-reminding of activating the glutes was necessary.

Nearing the late afternoon and around 90km in, I came into the Chocolate Mill cache around one and a half hours ahead of schedule.

For some reason I was at a low point mentally but encouraged myself by looking forward to some food.

The next section was probably the most technical of the track through Hepburn Springs down to Daylesford Twin Bridge picnic area.

My fear of snakes diminished around Daylesford after council members had cleared the grass, making the terrain navigable, although as evening approached and the sun set, the headlamp was soon employed.

Approaching Mollongghip, rain started to fall and the placement of a cache right next to a large pine tree offered shelter.

The cache was well hidden beneath a large grassy bush but the problem arose in that there were many such bushes that all looked the same.

After several minutes searching I decided to make it to the next cache which was near Lake St George at Creswick, some three hours away.

Fearing a need to ration water supplies I set off.

Before making it out of the bushes my poles located the cache and much to my relief I quickly set about restocking and charging batteries..

Extreme fatigue was really setting in at around 4am and at times I drifted off to sleep whilst running.

Before I knew it the sun started to rise and the lovely single track around Creswick was carefully navigated and now with only 40km left, I knew I had taken care of the hardest part.

The quad soreness that started around 60km in hadn't become any worse and now that Ballarat was here, I could sense the finish and picked up my pace.

Running the numbers through my head, I realised that it was possible to have a similar time as what Ross and Simon achieved.

Initially I thought I wouldn't beat their time after potentially holding them back in the previous attempt, but I decided that being a different category it would not make a difference, as they would still have the FKT in the Supported category.

As I approached Buninyong my legs started to give but I could I could see glimpses of the mountain between the trees and was determined to keep going.

Without knowing the exact distance, adrenaline was now flowing and I maintained the pace as the kilometres kept ticking over and before long the elevation increased too.

Hiking up the final zig-zagging single track, the sheer relief had kicked in and I was overwhelmed by a great sense of achievement.

My family had been observing the live tracker and were there to cheer me on the finish line.

I checked my watch which recorded a total distance of 199.6 kilometres and a time of 31 hours and 37 minutes, beating the previous Self-Supported FKT by just over 10 hours and also the Supported FKT set by Ross and Simon by 38 minutes.

For three mates from Bendigo to have both FKT categories on the Goldfields Track, it was certainly a wonderful achievement.

John Robinson submitted this contributed article to the Bendigo Advertiser.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.