Costley gets behind cross-country champs | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

You won’t find Richie McCaw organising a rugby test or Daniel Vettori a cricket test.

But in the more down-to-earth environment of New Zealand athletics, champion runner Phil Costley is using his boundless energy to help make the 91st New Zealand cross-country championships at Halswell Quarry on Saturday a big success.

The event also doubles as the inaugural Oceania championships, and more than 500 runners will line up.

The 39-year-old has won the New Zealand title six times – and has been on the podium every time since his first in 1994, apart from two championships he missed.

This year he’s been slowed up by a niggling knee injury since the Buller marathon in February, and with his training affected has been putting time into setting up the event, too.

"There are about 10 of us on the committee," he said. "I told them we need to promote this, and they said ‘You’ve got the name – you do it.’"

That’s ensured the media has been bombarded with plenty of info on the contest.

However, Costley will still run himself – hoping to help Canterbury retain the senior title.

The IAAF, the sport’s world body, had introduced the Oceania event to provide a bridge between domestic competition and world-level, he said.

"It will give an international taste for young ones coming through," he said.

Costley rates the Halswell course "really good" but energy sapping. It was all uphill or downhill with no really flat stretches, and tired runners out, he said.

Canterbury has two candidates for the men’s title in Rowan Hooper, runner-up the last two years, and Andrew Davidson, who won the North Island title and beat Hooper for the Canterbury title this month.

Also in the picture is New Zealand’s representative at the Oceania half marathon, Kim Hogarth (Nelson), who holds the national 3000, 5000, and half marathon titles.

The women’s field includes Canterbury and South Island champion Fiona Crombie, Melissa Moon (Wellington), who has won the title seven times (the last in 2002), and favourite Rachel Kingsford (Otago), who beat Moon in the North Island championships.