Puffing Billy Running Festival 2026

Emerald Lake Park hosts the gentler part of the Puffing Billy Running Festival, where families, beginners, and young runners navigate flat paths as the "echoing toots and puffs of Puffing Billy" offer encouragement. The main event features a uniquely brief objective: "race against a century-old steam train" departing from historic Belgrave Station, heading toward Emerald, passing through the "lush Dandenong Ranges" instead of completing a standard circuit. The primary route parallels the Puffing Billy Railway line, comprising a mix of paved surfaces and trails. It includes rolling ascents and descents through undulating hills, dense eucalypt woodlands, and fern-filled ravines. This is the type of race where the train's sound precedes its appearance, prompting a sudden recollection of the attempt to outpace the locomotive. Novices and families have dedicated, more accessible run/walk events, with all participants converging for finisher medals and a "festive atmosphere at the finish line."