Orienteering: Morrison eyes third national title after four-year break

Amber Morrison completes a training run with her dog Hank in the buildup to this weekend's national orienteering championships. Photo/Duncan Brown

Bet against Hawke's Bay's Amber Morrison winning the elite women's title at this weekend's national orienteering championships in the Bay at your peril.

A two-time New Zealand senior rep at world championship level and one-time New Zealand junior world championship rep, Havelock North's Morrison will be competing in her first nationals since 2013. For this reason she isn't putting any extra pressure on herself to deliver a third overall title.

"You always race to win but I've been out of it for so long," Morrison, 30, said in an attempt to brush of the favourite's tag.

Morrison will be one of 500 starters in the four-day champs which begin with a sprint course in the Hastings central city area from 2pm today, but Morrison is only concerned with the 14 others in her division. She expects Nelson's Georgia Whitla to be her main rival.

"I had a bit of a break from orienteering because of some back surgery in 2015. I've also been doing more triathlons and last November I qualified for the world age-group triathlon championships but didn't go," said Morrison, who first competed in orienteering as a 7-year-old.

"Basically I'm doing the nationals because they are here in the Bay and I'm fit enough to do them. I've done a few Hawke's Bay club events in recent months.

"I've done a lot of cycling and swimming but I haven't run for four days in a row for a long time ... I'm going to be pretty knackered after the relays on Monday," Morrison said, referring to the interclub relays at Hautope in Central Hawke's Bay which will end the champs.

Tomorrow's middle course at Phillips Field and Sunday's long course at Hautope complete the nationals programme. Morrison is targeting the sprint and long-course individual titles as well as the overall one.

At the 2006 junior world championships in Lithuania Morrison finished 14th on the sprint course and 17th on the long course. She couldn't match these finishes at both of her senior worlds.

Her younger brother, Duncan Morrison, is the event manager and, in previous years when major events have been hosted in the Bay and he has been involved on the management side, Morrison and her other siblings have always jokingly been accused of being able to tap into some inside knowledge. There could be some more of those jokes if she ticks her goals off.

"I don't think Duncan sets the courses. We don't live in the same house any more so those accusations shouldn't surface," Morrison said.

"To be fair I've been so busy with work I probably haven't given these champs as much attention as I should have," Morrison, who runs Functional Podiatry in Hastings, said.

Her partner and fellow former Coast to Coast multisport event competitor in the South Island and former equestrian rider, Tom Alexander, will compete in his first nationals in a non-elite senior men's division. Her father, Derek Morrison, will tackle the masters sprint and long events. They will be among 80 starters from the Bay.

Talented Hawke's Bay juniors Jenna and Will Tidswell are among the favourites in the W18 and M16 divisions.