Rotorua Marathon: Warrander eyes legend's tally | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

Dale Warrander will be aiming to go one better than the legendary Jack Foster when he tackles the race around the Lake on Saturday.

Last year Warrander chalked up his fourth victory in the Rotorua Marathon to equal the number Foster won in the 1970s.

A win would give the 37-year-old fitness trainer based on the Gold Coast the honour of having the most wins in the iconic race.

Warrander's record to date is: 1996 2h 21m 47s, 2004 2h 23m 40s, 2005 2h 22m 38s and last year 2h 26m 54s.

"I'm really looking forward to competing this year. This is the fifth time I've run at Rotorua and I really want that fifth win this year. I'm not getting any younger and I know there will be some other runners after my blood, but I hope I'm good enough to hold out any challenges," said Warrander.

He has not raced since winning the Auckland marathon in October where he ran 2h 19m 22s in beating Sam Wreford by 35 seconds.

"Training up until four weeks ago was steady but then a minor injury scare to the right shin put me back one week.

"But since then training has been absolutely fantastic," said Warrander.

"I have put some really good sessions together and I feel confident about my current fitness level based on the last three weeks," he added.

Twice winner at Rotorua, Scott Winton (36) looms as the strongest challenge to Warrander. Winton won in 2006 in 2h 25m 34s and in the dramatic finish in 2009 when just caught a stumbling Steven O'Callaghan on the finish line in 2h 27m 14s.

Since he won the Auckland Round the Bays 8.4km run last month Winton has extended his training increasing his mileage in preparation for the marathon.

"I've had some encouraging tempo runs in the last few weeks. It's always hard to know exactly where you are at with a marathon but I'm feeling strong," said Winton.

The dark horse of the field could well be Luke Hurring of Christchurch. The 26-year-old finished second to Nick Willis in the recent New Zealand 5000m track championship and in the Christchurch marathon last June was second to Matt Smith in 2h 25m 6s.

The Macdonald twins from Tauranga, Iain and Kyle, have entered along with Dougal Thorburn of Dunedin, and 2003 winner Todd Stevens of Wellington.

Johanna Ottosson of Rotorua will be defending her women's title and keen to win the national women's title. Ottosson won last year in 2h 50m 19s and went on to run 2h 52m 33s on the Gold Coast in July and 2h 45m 32s in Sacramento in December. Entered fresh from her New Zealand mountain running title success is Ruby Muir from Whitianga. Former national women's cross country champion Maria Akesson of Kerikeri is entered along with Lesley Turner Hall of Auckland, who was second in 2007 and third last year, Sarah Devoy and Debbie Fillery of Auckland fifth in 2009.