Graeme Butcher is hoping for a personal best of over 220km when he represents Athletics New Zealand at the world 24-hour endurance championships in Poland on September 8-9.
Butcher, 50, from Masterton will be heading overseas as the defending national 24-hour champion after winning that title in Auckland last year with a distance of 207km , a massive 30km more than he managed when fourth in the same event in 2010.
And he reckons that providing he can stay clear of health and injury hassles during a tough training regime he could possibly find a extra "15km or so" this time round.
"There is a lot which can go wrong when you are on your feet for so long, so making any sort of prediction doesn't make a lot of sense, but I do think there is still room for some improvement ... not a lot but some."
Even if he breaks the 220km mark , however, Butcher doesn't expect to feature among the leading competitors individually as he anticipates the winner covering around 260km but he sees the Kiwis being capable of a top-eight finish in the teams event.
Five men and three women will be wearing the Silver Fern and with the top three performers in each team counting towards the teams titles, the men, in particular, should make a bold showing. "On a good day at least three of us could go over 220km and that would make us pretty competitive."