It’s not for the faint-hearted.
Today, New Zealand’s first vertical kilometre race will take runners up 1200 metres of incline between Queenstown’s Moke Lake and the Ben Lomond summit over a 3.9-kilometre track, being held as part of the Shotover Moonlight Marathon events.
The La Sportiva Vertical Kilometre, organised by Shotover Moonlight Marathon’s Foster family and Skyrunning Australia and New Zealand, has been brewing for a while.
Hamish Foster says it ‘‘was time to expand the event slightly and [the vertical kilometre] was a natural choice — something that’s a bit different, but still fits well with the rest of the events’’.
‘‘It’s very steep, very rugged and challenging, but that’s exactly what we’re looking for.’’
It also offers the winner selection for the Skyrunning World Championships later this year, which Foster’s pretty excited about.
More than 40 people signed up – Foster’s stand-out contenders include Kiwis Scotty Hawker and Anna Frost, Alexandra’s Hannah Presswood whom he says could be a surprise winner, and 10-marathon veteran James Harcombe.
‘‘There could be quite a few surprise packages.
‘‘Anyone with mountain climbing, mountaineering experience could be a real contender, not just runners.’’
He says the aim is to keep the vertical kilometre as an ongoing part of the Shotover Moonlight Marathon, which is now in its 11th year.
Tomorrow’s five main marathon events offer distances between 10km and 56km and have over 600 entries so far, not quite back to pre-Covid levels, but Foster says the organisers are really pleased considering the last two years of disruptions.
