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7:35 AM Thu 9 Apr 2009 GMT
 | | 'Hydro Tasmanian Three Peaks Race'
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Though often perceived as a purely sailing race, the Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race has the potential to be won and lost on land.
In last year's exciting finish, the top three boats arrived in Hobart within a minute of each other, and it was up to their six runners to battle it out on Mt Wellington.
This year, with the boats more evenly matched than ever and very light airs predicted, it could come down to the land-based competitors to decide the finishing order again.
Tasmanian multi-sport athlete Mark Padgett was one of the six athletes in last year's sprint finish. He will sit out of the event this year after competing in an Ironman triathlon, but will be watching keenly to see if his former running partner, Tim Piper, now paired with 2008 King of the Mountain-winner Mark Guy, can contribute to skipper Phillip Marshall's fifth consecutive race win.
`There are several top running teams in the race and the weekend forecast looks like the runners will be getting plenty of rest between each leg, so I would expect some very fast times,'' Padgett said.
`Andrew Kromar will team up with Launceston builder Clarence Blake. This combination will run for Westbury-Mersey Pharmacy and are well suited with their off-road speed. Blake and Kromar fought it out in this year's Triple Top race, proving their compatibility.
`Despite some early injury concerns, Tim Piper is in great form and has been training hard the last few weeks with last year's King of the Mountain winner Paul McKenzie. McKenzie has taken this year off and his usual runner partner Mark Guy, one of Tasmania's most accomplished athletes, will team up with Piper on Neil Buckby Motors Subaru.
`Launceston's Aubrey Hendricks showed his great form winning the 12-hour race at St Leonards a few weeks ago and would most likely be looking forward to the spectacular scenery the Three Peaks offers rather than the monotony of running in circles. He will team up with Kayena's Doug Grubert, known for his excellent endurance and secret training regime.
`Other runners to watch are multi-sport specialist John Kent from Victoria (BWR Multihulls), Adrian Young from Westbury (Sullvians Cove Whisky) and Launceston's John Claridge (Haphazard) who will run with his sailing mate turned runner Tristan Gourlay.'
After competing in three races, Padgett knows what it takes to run more than 130km in three days.
`For the runners in the race, Good Friday is the culmination of months of training, dodging injuries and trying to avoid sickness, whilst covering anywhere between 80km and 180km of running per week,'' he said.
`In the past, runners such as McKenzie, Guy, Kromar, Michael Wheatley and Tim Sloan have been some of the most successful and an average week of training for these competitors would be well over 160km.'
by Holly Ranson
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South Channel Island, VIC
