Two-time ultramarathon world champion, Camille Herron, has signed up to tackle Rotorua's Tarawera Ultramarathon.
She will be one of the fastest and most in-form woman to ever compete in the event, which takes place on February 11, 2017.
And the event organiser says he is "blown away" to have the superstar on the start list.
The 34-year-old American will join nearly 800 other athletes from around the world who have already signed up for the 102km run from Rotorua's Redwoods to Kawerau township.
"I've had Tarawera on my bucket list of trail races since hearing about it a few years ago from our Kiwi friend and Oklahoma alum, Craig Kirkwood," said Herron.
"I've followed the race every year, and it looks and sounds like an amazing experience and I am excited to race against such an internationally competitive field."
In September 2015, Herron led a powerful American women's team to the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) World 100K Championship team title in Winschoten, Holland. In doing so, she also took home the individual title, with a time of 7:08:35 (the fourth fastest 100km time in history) and clocked a 50-mile split nearly two minutes under the current world record for 50 miles.
Three months later, Herron proved she had what it took to compete with the fastest women in the world. She led a stacked women's field from the gun to the tape to bring home her second World Championship of 2015 at the IAU World 50K Championships in Doha, Qatar.
A relative newcomer to ultramarathons, Herron distinguished herself first as a road marathoner, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials three times (2008, 2012, 2016). In 2011, she represented the United States at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she finished 9th (1st American). She has 20 marathon victories to her credit.
In between her two World Championship titles, Herron managed to squeeze in a U.S National Championship title at the Door County 50 Miler, recording the fastest-ever 50-mile (80km) time by a woman (5:38:41).
Event organiser Paul Charteris said he was "blown away" when he saw Herron's name appear on the start list.
"Her road marathon and ultra marathon resume is unmatched in the world right now," said Charteris.
"That said, I think Tarawera will be one heck of a test for her. She's still very new to the trail ultra scene, so I think we can expect trail-running specialists to make up a lot of time on her in the technical parts of the course from 30 to 60km. If she manages to navigate the technical trails, we could see something phenomenal.
"We've seen a lot of talented women tackle Tarawera, but the Kiwi women have been so dominant in recent years. We have not had a foreign winner of the women's race since 2012 when Canadian, Nicola Gildersleeve won the title."
Tauranga-based running coach Craig Kirkwood has watched Herron's career progress closely.
"Camille has come a long way since we first met on the track and field team at the University of Oklahoma," he said.
"She is now a coach and is married to my college training partner, Conor Holt. He has turned her into fantastic marathoner, but she really seems to have found her niche in the ultra distances.
"Her world titles were outstanding performances. She has proven she's got the speed to run at the front of the women's field at Tarawera, but she'll need to run well on the technical sections, and run hard over the last 40km to contend with Kiwi legend, and defending champion, Fiona Hayvice."
Now in its ninth year, the Tarawera Ultramarathon is no stranger to top overseas talent. This year's 102k race was won by Sweden's Jonas Buud in a time of 8:01. Buud is also the current men's 100km world champion, winning the world title in the Netherlands last year.
For the first time, more than half of the Tarawera Ultramarathon field are expected to be international runners.
Starting at the Redwoods centre in Rotorua, runners will make their way through undulating terrain and arguably New Zealand's best running scenery before finishing in Kawerau.
The event is part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour, a series of the 12 most prestigious ultra-running races in the world.
