Dougal Thorburn of Wellington will be looking for all the uphill speed he can muster when he defends his New Zealand mountain running title in Queenstown on Saturday.
This year the championships are all uphill and the senior course covers 13.86km with an ascent of 1492m. Thorburn warmed up for the nationals with a comfortable win in the Wellington championship two weeks ago. The 35 year old doctor who competed at the 2009 world mountain running championships will face tough competition from last year's 40-44 masters champion Steve Rees-Jones, Hyell Dinnock, Caden Shields, Jonah Smith, Nathan Tse, Jake Jackson-Grammer, Jason Palmer and David Catherwood.
Rees-Jones was in top form last year in winning the masters road championship outright by over a minute and two months ago was second in the Huntly half marathon. Dinnock recently set a record for the Routeburn Track race and has been training on the course. Tse has performed well in the early season cross country events in Wellington and looks ready to tackle the tough South Island terrain. Phil Costley was the last athlete to win back to back titles in 2000 in Blenheim and 2001 in Te Aroha.
Sally Gibbs will also be defending her title in the women's 7.6km with an uphill climb of 993m. Gibbs competed at the world mountain running championships in Wales last September defying her age of 52 by finishing a creditable 40th.
Shireen Crumpton, the 2008 champion on Mt Campbell will be seeking another title to add to her 13 titles won across five running disciplines over 13 years. Melissa Moon has twice won consecutive titles.