Whatever your forte it will be a tough task at the Leith Cross Country Relays and Ponydale Challenge tomorrow.
Last year produced a great battle between Leith — who have 17 teams in 2026 and have spread their top athletes across them — Hill City University, Caversham and Ariki across the grades.
Cameron Livingstone is making his debut in a Leith relay team, along with Graham Fisher, Corey Lewis and Sam Bradbury-Leather, who will be chased by an equally impressive group of McKay Watson, Adrien Auvray Matyn, Theo Atkinson and Sean Galdeman.
Leith’s masters men's team last year had an almighty battle against the Leith senior men's outfit, and the masters 35-plus team of Nathan Shanks, Aaron Eyles, Phil Petersen and Lars Winther is expected to be competitive again.
Caversham and Hill City will also be in the fight for titles.
The women's race is expected to be a tight one between Leith, Hill City and Caversham
The premier event, The Gallop, is a 4x4000m race for open women, men and masters men 35-plus.
The event opens with the 4x2000m event, dubbed The Canter, for the masters men and women, under-18 mixed and all grades mixed teams.
There is also the solo lap of 800m for under-10s and under-12s, dubbed the Short Trot, and the Long Trot is a 4x800m race for under-14 mixed.
The Ponydale Challenge, where runners and walkers complete as many laps as they can of the 2km course in three hours, has attracted 20 entrants, including the top men from 2025 in Ben Pigou — who won with 18 laps — Sean Galdeman, Simon Perry and Andrew Lonie and Steve Tripp. Claudia Cooke, who has had some impressive recent backyard ultra performances, Emily Harris and Grace Perry are tipped among the leading women.
Entries are open an hour before racing gets under way at 12.30pm.
