Cromwell’s Daniel Balchin will line up along with 11,062 others at today’s Queenstown Marathon.
The 28-year-old is entered in the half-marathon and has a CV that would compare favourably with any of those other entrants.
For starters, he won last year’s half-marathon in a record time of 1hr 07min 27sec, more than three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
He has also won nine national titles across various running events since 2010 and took silver in this year’s national half-marathon championships. His past winter had been "average" as his focus was on building towards the summer track season, for which he hoped to peak around February and March.
Despite that he felt he was in similar condition to that of a year ago.
"I’m don’t feel pressured to beat the time I did last year.
"The race will pan out how it pans out.
"There’s a lot of variables and one of the variables is the weather.
"Last year the weather was perfect conditions. If it’s not perfect conditions, if there’s a bit of a breeze, things like that will affect the time, so I’m not concerned about the time."
One thing in Balchin’s favour this year is his proximity to the course.
A former Caversham runner, Balchin moved to Christchurch and spent five years there.
However, he relocated to Cromwell this year for his job as a contracting manager at Fulton Hogan.
Running fitted well with that and because he had a lesser distance to travel for this year’s marathon, he spent time training on the course.
"...I quite often get out to Queenstown-Arrowtown most weekends to get on to the network of trails out there.
"Some of them is what the course is run on, so I’ve got a bit of local knowledge of the course now.
"It’s one of my favourite spots to run. It’s picturesque and got beautiful trails out there."
Despite his relocation he continues to represent his University of Canterbury club and finished second at the national road relays last month.
The Queenstown Marathon is now in its fifth year and is quickly becoming a hugely popular event.
It sold out entries this year, with runners coming from around New Zealand, Australia and as far away as China, the United States and Singapore.
Races begin between 7.45am and 8.30am, and will finish at the Queenstown Recreation Ground for the prizegiving at 3.30pm.
Queenstown Marathon
By the numbers
Total participants: 11,062 (full marathon 2360, half marathon 5748, 10km 2740, kids’ run 214)
Gender split: Female 6574, male 4074
Ages: Average 38, median 38, oldest 87.
Most-represented countries: New Zealand 8615, Australia 1339, United States 187, China 103, Singapore 71
Logistics: 8500 bananas, 1.4km of fencing, 239,292km covered by all athletes running (estimate based on entries), 294 Portaloos.
