Returning champion Grant Guise in action during the
Routeburn Classic last year, on top of the Harris Saddle.
Photo supplied.
Entries for the 2011 Routeburn Classic opened online this
week, with returning champion Grant Guise determined to shave
two and a-half minutes off his winning time to take the record
held by multisport champion Richard Ussher.
Guise said in a statement he was confident he could build on
last year's experience and knowledge of the track and beat
Ussher's time.
Guise's time in his inaugural classic was 2hr 53min 23sec.
"My build-up this year is totally different to last year's,
as I've got my first 100km event, the Tarawera Ultramarathon,
six weeks before.
"After that, I plan to recover and then build up to the
Routeburn with the shorter, faster training runs.
"I will be watching with interest when entries open to see
who might push me along this year. I'm really looking forward
to getting back down there and going hard out there."
The Routeburn Track traverses 32km through Mt Aspiring and
Fiordland National Parks. It is usually done as a three-day
tramp.
Event director Evan McWhirter, of Good Times Events Ltd, said
that when people who walked the track were told the times the
"top guys" ran it in, their eyes "popped out".
Guise will join a field limited to 350 athletes.
Entries for last year's race were snapped up within 30
minutes and consistently more than 100 people are
wait-listed.
This year's race, the ninth, will be held on Saturday, April
30.
Runners will congregate at The Divide, near Milford Sound,
for the 8am start gun and finish near Glenorchy.
Most participants are expected to take between four and
a-half and six hours.
A prize-giving dinner will be held at Skyline restaurant in
Queenstown afterwards.
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