Runners and riders test out the Only Fools and Horses course ahead of the race on Saturday in the Maniototo. Photo: Supplied/Steve Tripp
A Central Otago race is pitting two legs against four as runners and horse-riders tackle a 40 kilometre course across the Maniototo.
What started as an idea tossed around in a pub has become the inaugural Only Fools and Horses race, which takes place on Saturday.
Ultra-marathon runner Margie Campbell is hoping Central Otago turns up the heat for the race, when more than 50 runners are set to take on 26 horses and riders.
That is because humans sweat better than horses and they can carry their own water and drink on the run.
"I'm really hoping for the runners to try and get it over the horses that it is a hot day because... humans are the most efficient runners on the planet because we can sweat so we can actually cool ourselves down so I'm actually hoping for a really warm day," she said.
To prepare for the race, Campbell has been busy heading into the hills around Dunedin and running during the heat of the day.
"But it is tricky living in Dunedin, training to acclimatise to those sorts of temperatures, particularly the summer we've just had, it really wasn't that warm. So it will be interesting to see how everybody holds up," she said.
It was one thing to grow up around horses, but quite another to contemplate racing against them.
"I'm sure these ones on Saturday will be a lot faster than my two that I grew up with. Yeah, it's just a novel idea and I think just supporting community," Campbell said.
Rider Lucy Falconer was keen to try something new.
"No, I've never done anything like this in my life. I primarily do eventing and showjumping so this is a whole 'nother, but I'm very excited to try it," she said.
She and her horse Ted have been training for a few weeks, and she said he has handling it all really well.
"We do a lot of competing so he's already very fit from the shows we've been doing and he loves this sort of thing and he's got a big heart and a very good work ethic so I know he's going to love it," she said.
As a Maniototo local, she could not wait for more people to appreciate the stunning country.
Horse riders help to survey the course for the inaugural Only Fools and Horses race in the Maniototo. Photo: Supplied/Steve Tripp
Race rules require riders to shout 'tally-ho' before passing a runner - and they must only pass on the right.
Only Fools and Horses race co-organiser Steve Tripp said the idea first started when one of his co-organisers popped into the Wedderburn Tavern and got chatting to the local publican while cycling the Central Otago Rail Trail with his family.
"When she heard what he does - organising races, she said 'oh, I've always wanted to do kind of a run with horses and runners as a relay and so we tossed that idea around when he got back to Dunedin, and thought actually, a race with horses and runners at the same time in the model of the Welsh race would be a better option logistically," Tripp said.
Man versus Horses has been running in Wales since 1980, but the odds have been in the horse's favour.
Only four runners have taken the title in the event's history, but Tripp was sitting on the fence about how many legs the potential winner would have in the Maniototo.
"Compared to the Welsh race, we're probably about 15 to 20 degrees warmer with less rain but that makes the surfaces firmer which is easier for horses to keep going. It's less technical, less mud, less boggy. We've got less climbing in our race so that could make it easier for the horses. However, it will be hot and that's not good for the horses. Runners can keep going," he said.
The 40-kilometre course will take runners and riders up hills, through farm paddocks, along an historic water race which used to supply water for the gold fields near Naseby and through silver birch forest.
The runners will start at 9am followed by the horse-riders 15 minutes later, but Tripp said that was just to separate them at the start and that would be taken off their time at the end.
There will be aid stations and a compulsory vet check at half way.
Organising races helped to build a sense of community, he said.
"This one in particular is quite amazing cos it's bringing together rural and urban communities as well as horse riders and runners, and different communities within those groups so it's about people getting together and, I guess, finding common ground even though from a distance they might look so different," he said.
Spectators could watch the start and end of the race or opt for the $20 lunch package and cheer on the competitors at the half way point at the top of Laws Road with a BBQ, he said.
Tripp hoped Only Fools and Horses would become an annual event.
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