Ngawati fresh for Xterra bid

Although she is taking a leap into the unknown, Whangarei distance runner Ady Ngawati is ready for any  challenge  at the Xterra Trail World Championships in Hawaii.
While pleased with her preparation, she had no idea about her competition and who she would be running against.
"All I know is the best of the best will be there - Xterra events are big around the world, so it will be interesting to see who will show," she said.
Ngawati qualified for the international event after winning last year's Xterra National Trail Running Championships at Rotorua, and has spent most of this year preparing for her first international off road campaign.
A win at the Arthur Lydiard Legend Marathon and a second place at this year's Xterra Nationals boosted Ngawati's confidence she was on the right track for the 21km race at Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, on Sunday.
One thing the 32-year-old NorthTec tutor is certain of is the American contingent will be hard to beat on the back of their national championships.
"Five time National Collegiate Athletic Association champion and three time Olympic trial qualifier Lauren Fleshman won the elite women's division and would be ones to watch out for," Ngawati said.

 Colorado-based Fiona Docherty, sister of triathlete Bevan and a former ironman competitor, is the only other New Zealander Ngawati knows competing at Oahu.
Ngawati's last hard training session was the Kerikeri Half Marathon two weeks ago, where she came third behind triathlete Sam Warriner and winner Lydia O'Donnell. She has  since been tapering and freshening up for Sunday.

 The Hawaiian heat and humidity is another factor the two-time Auckland Marathon winner is ready to  face and she had been doing everything possible to simulate similar conditions during training.
"I have been running in my polyprops in the middle of the day, in the heat. The main thing this week is to keep well hydrated and load up on electrolytes so I am prepared. I fly out on Saturday and race on Sunday at 9am [Hawaiian time], so I will need to be on to it."
Depending on terrain and conditions in the 21km off road race, Ngawati  was aiming for a sub 90-minute time, she said.
Following Sunday's race, Ngawati will put her work clothes on  and spend a week building NorthTec relations with Hawaiian universities and their athletic departments, looking at how their sport science programmes work, before hitting the roads  in the Honolulu Marathon.
 She hopes to go under the three-hour mark in the 42km road race on December 12.