Athletics: Mountain man goes flat out

Uncompromising mountain man Jonathan Wyatt will be sticking to the flat on Sunday when he makes his bid for a second successive win in the Christchurch half marathon.

The reigning world mountain-running champion, who was named Wellington's sportsman of the year this week, broke the New Zealand record with a time of 1h 2m 32s last year.

"I'm hopeful I can get pretty close to that time," he said yesterday.

Wyatt, 30, is back into build-up mode after running a career-best 2h 13m marathon in Hamburg a month ago. He has his sights set on the marathon at next year's Athens Olympic Games. He needs a time of 2h 12m to qualify for the Games. Former Olympic runner Robbie Johnston is in form to run the distance in 1h 5m, and fellow Aucklander, last year's full marathon winner Phil Clode, will also a be a big threat.