Winter Season at MUAC

Our main competition during the winter season is the Athletics Victoria (AV) XCR, or cross-country and road series. This is composed of 10 rounds, running from May to September in the 2025/26 season. These are held at venues in and around Melbourne, with the most local being Albert Park and the furthest being in Ballarat. Find the event pages here: https://athsvic.org.au/xcr_2025/

This series includes 7 'individual' rounds, where your finishing position contributes to the team's score vs. other clubs, and 3 'relay' rounds, where pre-selected teams compete and aggregate time determines placement. Round results for all events contribute to season ladder points in each division.

Medals are awarded for podium finishes in each individual and relay event, and male and female premier club winners are awarded at the end of the season based on the ladder points.  

Whilst there are other events during the winter season, the XCR is the only competition series that we and many other clubs compete in, score points, and achieve a season result. Our performance each season determines which divisions we compete in the next year (see 'Divisions' below). We aim for good representation across divisions - as the place to be for athletes of all abilities!

There are awesome team vibes at XCR and it’s an opportunity to meet people from other training squads, not to mention it is also an all-round enjoyable way to spend a Saturday or Sunday!

We compete in a range of divisions for each gender classification in the XCR. At the end of the XCR series, the club at the bottom of the ladder in each division is relegated to the division below for the following year. Conversely, the club at the top of the ladder is promoted to the division above. Consecutive poor performances year on year can cause a club to slip down the divisions and it will take a similar number of 'good' years to work back up again.

The division you compete in depends on your performance - for individual rounds, the top 5-6 athletes for each club will go towards the Premier division placing, the next 5-6 will go into division 2, etc. For relay rounds, teams are pre-determined based on season performances.

This year we aim to show up in big numbers and dig deep to secure, and even promote, our divisions! Note that only full, competing members will score points for the club - if you're a recreational runner, you can enter the individual rounds, but you will be counted as 'invitational', and your score won't contribute to the club's result. For that reason, we strongly suggest signing up as a competing member! Sign up here now!

There are a few answers to this question. If you are signed up to the club and AV as a full, competing member, you will only need to pay to enter individual rounds (approximately $47 per round). Alternatively, if you intend to enter every round, you can purchase the open athlete + XCR (for winter competition) or Max package (summer + winter inclusive). Bear in mind if you buy a package you will still need to enter each round on the AV website (the price will just be ‘free’). If you are a recreational member, the cost of individual round entry is approximately $60.

The cost of relay rounds is covered by the club (you’re welcome 😊), but only for full members - recreational runners can't compete for the club in relay rounds.

Do your sums and determine which membership package is the best for you.