One month to go until Motatapu – who will be on the start line?

Elite athletes, weekend warriors, first-time competitors and junior runners are set to line up for Queenstown's iconic Motatapu off-road events in less than a month.

The races wind through the Motatapu, Soho, and Glencoe high country stations, from Wānaka to Arrowtown, on Saturday, 1 March. They include the 52km Ultra Run, 47km Mountain Bike, the 42km off-road marathon, 15km Miners Trail Run, and the Motatapu Junior Trail Run.

Around 2500 participants are expected to be on the start line, but there are still places available for last-minute entrants.

The 15km race might sound like the easiest option but with over 800m of climbing to be done, easy doesn’t really come into the UDC Finance Miners Trail Run.

This event also doubles as an official UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) Index Race used to assess the performance level of trail runners wanting to enter the world’s toughest mountain ultramarathon held every year through France, Italy and Switzerland.

Queenstown local Sarah Douglas will be one to watch. Routeburn Classic champion and the first person to win it three times, Douglas is also the women’s course record holder on the Motatapu Miner’s Trail.

While competition will be fierce for those at the front of the field, for others the motivation for entering has a more friendly field.

Queenstown local Katharine Franey, Business Manager at Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopter, says the race is about being "part of a friendly office competition".

"Two of our directors, Luke McEwan and Luke West enter the race every year. Our Base Office Manager Lucy Izon and I just happened to join in on a conversation about the race. I mentioned that I hadn't entered a race in years. Lucy never has. We both started egging each other on, at which point we realised we were already getting quite competitive - next minute, we both entered.

"Ever since that date, we have been training separately. We haven't yet decided how we are going to tackle the race - in full competition mode racing against each other for the duration or running together until the end, for a sprint finish. Either way, neither of us can afford to lose!"

Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist in track cycling, Eddie Dawkins, is signed up for the toughest challenge at Motatapu – the Rab 52km Ultra Run – which involves 3000m of climbing as competitors traverse the ridges and valleys of the Harris Mountain Range. He's joined by pro-mountain bike race Katy Winton, who has represented the UK and Scotland on the world circuit of Enduro.

Second-place finisher in the women’s 2024 Ultra, Hannah Wall, is back for a rematch, while 2017 winner Majell Backhausen is back too. And policeman Chris Gardner is also taking on the 52km distance, in his 5kg police vest, to raise money for the Canterbury Cancer Society.

Kim Hurst will be one to watch in the women’s Mondraker 47km Mountain Bike field. This is Hurst’s first shot at the 47km course but with multiple wins at iconic New Zealand events such as Karapoti Classic and the Whaka 100 to her name, not to mention several national and world championship titles, she’s sure to make light work of it.

Last year's third place finisher in the men's race, 15-year-old Levi Gear is on a mission to shave an extra 10 minutes off his time and beat Anton Cooper’s 2010 result of 1.58.28. First, he’ll need to get past former Junior and U23 National MTB Champion Cameron Jones, who is also taking on Motatapu for the first time this year.

And in the Allpress Espresso Marathon, Queenslander Ella McCartney is expected to return after blitzing the women’s field last year. Winning by more than 40 minutes, she could have nudged onto the men’s podium if she’d been just one minute faster.

The 2024 men’s Marathon winner Ben Gatting is also back for this year's Motatapu and taking a unique approach to his training. In the lead-up to Motatapu Ben is completing New Zealand's 11 Great Walks in 11 days to raise money for the KiwiHarvest charity.

For more info and entries visit motatapu.com