Multisports: Top athletes chasing Rotorua event

Some of New Zealand's top athletes are poised to move out of their comfort zone in multi-event races this weekend.

Hamish Carter will abandon his usual short-course triathlon expertise on Saturday to go toe-to-toe with ironman hero Cameron Brown in the NZ Xterra Championship in Rotorua.

Carter, who has won the race twice, is looking forward to again contesting the 1km swim in the Blue Lake, the 30km mountain bike ride in the Whakarewarewa Forest and the 11km trail run around the Blue Lake.

"Going to Xterra is like going to the sort of event that I started out at, all of us lining up in the water together having a good race and a good weekend," said Carter.

"It's great being able to share the experience with all the athletes of all levels, not just professionals."

Brown, too, is looking forward to the change of pace after the disappointment of last month's Ironman in Taupo which was curtailed by the unfavourable weather.

"The one good thing to come out of that is that instead of being pretty tired for the month, I have been able to do some local races," he said.

"I've often thought it would be fun to do Xterra but the timing has never been right for me."

Carter, who holds the race record at 2h 15m 47s, is chasing his third successive victory, as is defending women's champion Sonia Foote, who contested the cross-country mountain bike race at the Commonwealth Games.

Carter can also expect opposition from 2003 winner Sam Mallard, last year's runner-up Jon Hume, Canadian Brent McMahon, who finished just behind Carter in the Commonwealth Games triathlon, and Japanese Xterra champion Yu Yumoto.

Foote will line up in the race, which has $10,000 in prizemoney, against 2003 winner and former world triathlon silver medallist Evelyn Williamson and Australian professional Leesa White.

In a change of pace, former world kayaking champion Ben Fouhy will take to the Hauraki Gulf on a surfski. He will be joined by surf lifesaving ironman great Cory Hutchings and flatwater paddler Katie Pocock.

The King of the Harbour races, which will also incorporate, for the first time, a single outrigger World Cup race, will be contested over both days this weekend.

On Saturday, there will be a two-person 28km relay around a 7km course off Takapuna Beach.

Sunday's race will start or finish at either Takapuna Beach or Gulf Harbour, depending on the weather.

Teams from Australia, Tahiti and South Africa will compete in surfski, with outrigger crews from Tahiti, Samoa and Tonga.