The men’s team is looking to become Otago’s first national road relay champions in Akaroa.
It has been a stellar year for the club’s runners — the club had four of the top 10 finishers at the national road race championships last month in Cambridge.
Oli Chignell led the way in the group. He claimed his third national title of the year and cemented himself as the best distance runner on the domestic scene this year.
Chignell will run the longest lap of this weekend’s relay — the 10.7km leg from Lake Forsyth to Cooptown — and his performance will be key.
However, it is depth which elevates this team to the status of genuine contenders.
Caden Shields, Jared Monk and Jacob Priddey all shone in Cambridge last month, while Kirk Madgwick and Josh Baan also have impressive CVs.
Hayden McLaren and Alistair Richardson complete an impressive team.
The Takahe to Akaroa relay was last won by an Otago club in 1965 when Otago University claimed gold.
Neither was an official national championship event, but as the race was only open to the whole country once every four years, it tended to attract the best runners.
Caversham and Hill City both won medals on the course in 1977 and 1993 as well, although neither was a gold.
Meanwhile, in the women’s section, Hill City also claimed silver and bronze, in 2001 and 2005 respectively.
A 76.6km race, the relay doubles as the national championships every four years and is arguably the country’s premier road relay event.
Today there will be some stiff competition to break the drought.
Wellington Scottish — gunning for its fourth consecutive win — has a strong team which includes Olympian Hamish Carson.
University of Canterbury will also be a threat and is anchored by Otago-based runner Daniel Balchin.
Hill City-University also has a team in the senior women’s grade, although it may battle to compete against the class of the top teams.
