Rotorua runner Michael Voss takes a low key approach into competition and isn't getting fazed about the possibility of making history this weekend.
Michael Voss during the 2022 Auckland half marathon Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Voss is the two-time defending Rotorua Marathon champion and is set to become the first man to win three successive titles over the iconic course.
In the 58 year history of the event no man has won three in a row, although two women, Nyla Carrol and Alice Mason have achieved it.
Voss has spent most of his life in Rotorua and was first attracted to the race as a primary school kid watching the runners go by as he played football at Puarenga Park.
He took up the sport and enjoyed success through his school years, however he didn't start taking it seriously until he left school.
Voss competed in the Rotorua half marathon a couple of times while at secondary school and managed a very competitive time of 66 minutes.
He became a builder after leaving school and it was then that he found a coach in Kim Stevenson and was soon doing 100 mile weeks.
He has run the Rotorua marathon just three times and has won it twice... not a bad strike rate!
"I've got lucky, you just have to trust your training and a bit of local knowledge helps, I've gone around the lake a few times now.
He recorded his best marathon time of 2'22" while finishing second at the Auckland marathon in 2019 and won the Hawke's Bay Marathon earlier this year with a time of 2'24".
Michael Voss in Rotorua in 2019. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
So what about a history making third straight title this weekend?
"I'm going in with an open mind, be confident and trust your training."
His plan is to work out his competition early, stay comfortable for the first 30km, and then for him the real race starts.
"From the Whakatane turn-off (on the eastern side of the lake) it's basically a 10k flat stretch where you have to make sure you've still got something left.
"I'm just going for the win this Saturday, I don't have a time in mind."
Voss says his coach, who he describes as an old boy, has reminded him about the history of the race.
"I don't think I really appreciated it winning in the early years, there are some cool names that have won it and I wasn't aware until a few months ago that no man had achieved the three-peat.
Voss isn't even aware of his competition.
"No I wouldn't have a clue, I don't really like seeing who is lining up or who to worry about because it just adds stress and you can get yourself worked up about it."
And his chances of three in a ow?
"I'm trying not to think about it too much but should I do it I'd be pretty stoked and I'm sure to celebrate it afterwards."
Voss would like to represent New Zealand at some stage, but he knows being a marathon runner he's still relatively young and so he's in no hurry.
Now in its 58th year, the Rotorua Marathon has been run almost every year since 1965, with the exception being 1999.
In the 24 hours prior to the 1999 event 200mm of rainfall was recorded and some parts of the course washed out overnight.
3,200 participants lined up in the chute, then 5 minutes before the gun the race was cancelled and Rotorua declared in 'A State of Emergency' just hours later.
Because of Covid, 2020 was the first year the marathon was postponed.
Some of the top names of New Zealand athletics have won the Rotorua marathon including Jack Foster, Mike Ryan, John Campbell, Bernie Portenski and Jillian Costley.