It will be 25-year-old Harris’ last Port Macquarie event as a local and her first as a coach.

Harris is moving away to Sydney at the end of the year to further her career as a PE teacher.

Two of her apprentices, Samantha Haynes and Rhiannon Meath, will both also be racing on the day, giving the event the extra dimension.

“To have these two girls racing is exciting to be out there with them,” Harris said. “It has been a bit of a different approach, balancing coaching and training and then there’s full time work and I’m studying my masters in special education as well.

“I’ve become very good with my time management and organisation. And there’s been a lot of 4am starts.”

To add even more meaning to the race, Harris has courageously been receiving injections of cortisone for a soft tissue injury to her knee, just so she can compete.

Importantly though, the St Columba teacher will take impressive form into Sunday’s race.

Most recently, and despite the niggling injury, Harris performed outstandingly in the Sunshine Coast 70.3, smashing her personal best by eight minutes in a time of four hours and 39 minutes.

She also finished fourth in her age group in the Cairns 70.3 before winning the Hunter Valley half marathon in July.

“I feel as though I’m on my cusp now,” she said. “I’m prepared to go out and hurt and I know it will. 

"I feel pretty fit despite the rest I’ve had from running with this injury. A lot of it is all in your head to get through the races.”

Harris said while she still had no plans for 2015 in regards to her racing she guaranteed she would be back to compete in her home town in the future.

“This will be my last race for a while,” she said. “I will be back in Port to race for sure and I still haven’t ruled out Ironman Australia (full distance). I’m still young and I’m moving towards an age where I will start to peak in the next few years.”