Andy Bennett has passed up the chance of making it a hat-trick of Wairarapa country marathon wins.
The Carterton athlete had originally intended to be on the start line for this Sunday's 2014 edition of the event but with other commitments interrupting his preparation, he has elected to give it a miss.
"I just couldn't get myself ready to tackle it this time round, there wasn't enough time to get some solid training in," Bennett said yesterday.
Having clocked fastest time honours with a time of 2h 50min 26s in 2012 and again last year when he was the only runner to break the magical 3-hour mark with a time of 2:59.56, Bennett has understandably developed a liking for a course which involves two laps of a circuit which starts outside the main gate at Makoura College.
A quick out and back for 400m along Makora Rd is followed by a left turn into Johnstone St, then right into Colombo Rd, past Lakeview School, then right into Te Ore Ore Rd. The course turns right again by the substation into Watsons Rd, right into Stronvar Rd and down the Lees-Pakaraka Rd. From there it is a right turn at the Martinborough-Masterton Rd and back to Makoura College where participants turn left into Makora Rd, and do it all over again.