Outdoor apparel company Arc’teryx has four sponsored athletes in the 32km event, which follows the Routeburn Track from the Fiordland end to the Glenorchy side.
The males are Piotr Babis, who won the Kunanyi Mountain Run’s 46km alpine marathon, on Hobart’s doorstep, in Australia, late last month, and Kenji Boekholt.
The females are Dunedin-based Julia Chamberlain and Frances Redmond.
Event organiser Gemma Peskett, from Trojan Holdings company Ultimate Event Productions, notes none of last year’s podium finishers are back this year.
Of the sold-out field of 400 athletes, 50 are coming from Australia.
Indefatigable Queenstown runner James Harcombe, 60, will be presented with a medal marking his 15th classic at the prizegiving.
First run in 2001, the event was bought by Ultimate Event in 2023 from its founder, Evan McWhirter.
