Wanaka’s Katie Morgan has made a late decision to attempt a three-peat in the Kepler Challenge mountain race and there will be a new men’s champion crowned in Te Anau on Saturday.

Morgan, the English-born former New Zealand mountain running representative, won the beloved 60km ultra trail run on the Kepler Track in 2023 and 2022 and was third in the 2021 edition, which was rescheduled due to Covid.

She was a late confirmation for an attempt at a third-straight win after finishing runner-up at the recent Queenstown half marathon.

Having claimed victory in the 47km Ultra Trail Whistler mountain run, a UTMB event in Canada, in September, Morgan will start a strong favourite in the women’s category, but for the first time in six years Daniel Jones will be missing from the start line.

The talented Wellingtonian has had a big year racing internationally and for the time being will share the record for most Kepler titles with Russell Hurring, who won six in a row from 1990 to 1995 and Ruby Muir, who won six times between 2012 and 2019.

Alexandra’s Daniel Balchin, who holds the race record in the Grunt and was third behind Jones last year, will be a runner to watch, along with Wellingtonian Thomas Barnes.

Kepler Challenge race director Steve Norris said the event was proving as popular as ever.

The event’s concession with the Department of Conservation allows for 450 starters in the Kepler Challenge and 200 in the companion event, the 27km Luxmore Grunt.

The Challenge sold out in 2min 08sec, with the Grunt filling up in less than seven minutes when they opened on the first Saturday in July.

“The Kepler is just such a well regarded event on the ultra calendar,” Norris said.

“Despite the cost of living crisis, people are still excited to travel to Te Anau and do this race. We are also seeing more than 15 percent of the field made up of international runners - many of them from Australia but also from around the world. Those numbers have now bounced back to where they were before Covid.”

Track conditions are expected to be firm for Saturday’s race, with overcast, warm weather forecast.

Auckland’s Jonathan Jackson and Dunedin’s Stephanie Wilson are returning to defend their titles in the Grunt.

Racing in the Kepler Challenge starts from the Lake Te Anau control gates at 6am on Saturday, with the Grunt starting an hour later. Jones’ winning time last year was 4hr 41min, with Morgan winning in 5hr 36min.