Sidon (75) was one of Otago's top post-World War 2 cross-country runners and captained the New Zealand team at the world cross-country championships in 1965.
He was always a respected opponent and Kerry Williams, one of his main rivals in the 1950s, is travelling from Christchurch to attend the dinner at Selwyn College.
Williams is one of more than 50 team-mates and rivals who will be attending the dinner.
Sidon dominated the Edmond Cup during the 1950s and 1960s, winning the men's individual title 11 times. He was a member of the Caversham team that won the race 15 times between 1948 and 1967.
Sidon's most memorable win was in 1964, when he held out the challenge from Peter Welsh, who was a new international at the time.
Sidon won the national junior cross-country in 1951 and the senior title a decade later.
He first represented New Zealand in 1957 against Australia and captained New Zealand at the world cross-country championships in 1965.
But it was on his home turf that Sidon was most dominant. He demonstrated this by winning the Otago cross-country title 13 times.
What was Sidon's secret?
"I had the basic speed and could keep up a good pace," he said.
Sidon was coached by Alex Barr and a feature of his training was the Monday night session at Tahuna Park, when he would run 400m x 24 at race pace.
Sidon differed from other runners of his era in that he ran only 60 miles (96.5km) a week and not the usual 100 miles.
"I trained like [Czech great] Emil Zatopek, who won three gold medals at the 1952 Olympics, and did quality training," he said.
The training at Corstorphine and Tahuna Park paid dividends for Sidon, who recalled the the 1950s and 1960s, when he dominated cross-country running in Otago.
"I had a bit of natural ability," Sidon said.
"But there are no short-cuts and I trained hard for it.
"I remember running in the mud and slush at Corstorphine on cold winter nights with my coach, Alex Barr, holding the stopwatch."
No other runner has come close to Sidon's record, the closest being Chip Dunckley (Mornington and Hill City) in 1977-82 and Allan Carman (Leith) in 1995-2003, who both won six titles.
Other former Otago team-mates attending the dinner include North Otago's Tom Marshall, former minister of defence Warren Cooper from Queenstown, Graham Smith from Christchurch and Ron Cain from Dunedin.
Among Caversham club athletes attending the dinner are Bruce Burns, Bruce Cowan, Lindsay Dey, Stuart Melville, Bruce Milne and Ron Harris.
• The guest speaker at next Tuesday's Moro marathon clinic in the football rooms at the Caledonian Ground is Cathy Lewsley, of Te Anau, who will talk about preparing for this year's Mount Everest marathon.
The other speakers are physiotherapist Geoff Anderson and Otago athletics coach of the year Dave Stinson. The clinic starts at 6.30pm.
Pat Sidon's achievements
• NZ cross-country representative 1957-65
• NZ cross-country: junior champion 1951, senior champion 1961
• Otago cross-country: 13 senior titles
• Edmond Cup: 11 senior titles, 15 team titles with Caversham
