Moneghetti (47) is one of the great Australian distance runners and had an impressive record in the international arena.
His best performance was winning a gold medal in the marathon at the Victoria Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1994.
Moneghetti won a silver medal in the marathon at the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990 and a bronze medal in the event in Edinburgh in 1986.
He also won a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in 1998.
His best performance at a world championships was winning a bronze medal in the marathon in Athens in 1997.
Moneghetti also competed in four Olympic Games marathons, his best performance being fifth in Seoul in 1988.
His first marathon win was in Berlin in 1990 when he ran 2hr 08min 16sec.
He set the race record of 40min 03sec in the 14km Sydney City to Surf race in 1991.
The record still stands.
This is the first time Moneghetti has entered the Kepler Challenge and he is certain to challenge the race favourites.
Martin Lukes (Christchurch) will be trying to win his third successive challenge.
He won last year's event in 4hr 56min 24sec.
Another challenge will come from former Dunedin runner John Winsbury (Australia), who now lives in Canberra.
He was fourth last year in 5hr 13min 45sec.
There is a strong Australian presence in the race with 25 others from across the Tasman in the race.
The best prospects are John Steer (Victoria), Alex Ramsay (Canberra) and Nathan Facer (New South Wales).
Moneghetti's wife, Tanya, is competing in the 27km Luxmore Grunt and is certain to put pressure on the other runners.
Chigaya Mase (Japan), the winner for the past two years, is not competing in the women's race.
But there is a strong Japanese presence in the race, with Hiroshi Hashimoto, Toshiyasu Nishioka and Hisayuki Tateno strong contenders.
The race record by Phil Costley (Canterbury) was set in 2005.
Zelah Morrall holds the women's record of 5hr 23min 34sec that was run in 2003.
This year marks the 22nd running of the race, which has been held annually since 1988. It starts at 6am.
