The men's field for this year's Routeburn Classic has never been stronger, organiser Evan McWhirter says.
Today's race, the 15th edition of the 32km adventure run, will again feature a maximum field of 350 runners.
McWhirter believes Queenstown runner Jack Beaumont is favourite, along with his training partner, two-time defending champion and record-holder Hywel Dinnock.
But also in the field are top runners James Kuegler, Grant Guise, Dom Channon and Ryan Carr.
``All of those guys, barring something going wrong with them, will run under three hours - so it's just a matter of who has their day,'' McWhirter said.
Beaumont has recent form coming into the Routeburn Classic. He won the New Zealand mountain-running championship in Queenstown last month, in his first year as a senior, and qualified for the worlds in Italy in July.
The week before the running championships, he won the New Zealand 3000m steeplechase title in Hamilton.
The 19-year-old is vowing to go flat-out at the start of today's race.
``The first 20km is pretty much steadily uphill - the course is almost made for me.''
McWhirter said there was an air of mystery surrounding the women's field.
However, Dunedin's Sabrina Grogan, top female at this year's national mountain-running championships, will be favoured.
Among the competitors are Queenstown's's Mark Douglas (66), who is running a record 13th time. -
Mountain Scene
