The race, founded 15 years ago by Alexandra men Neville Grubb and Ritchie Bailey, is one of the oldest multisport events in New Zealand.
Pearson and Johnston are keen to see the Goldrush tradition continue and are passionate about developing the sport and encouraging youth participants.
The race holds a special place in Pearson's heart. He has raced it many times, winning twice and placing second twice.
He has also worked as support crew five times and met his wife, fellow adventure racer Sally (nee Fahey), during the event.
"I was at the first one [in 1997] but I was injured so ended up supporting some mates from Christchurch.
"[Multisport] was my whole life at that time and I moved to Wanaka 12 years ago. The Goldrush drew me to this area and I met Sally, my wife. She was a school teacher at Alexandra, so I moved there," Pearson said.
Pearson, a builder, competed internationally in adventure race teams and is now the president of the Southern Lakes Multisport Club.
Johnston, a teacher, has competed internationally in long distance triathlons and is married to Wanaka multisporter and police officer Mike Johnston.
She organised Wanaka's Mountain to Mountain multisport race for several years before it changed format to the Point 3 race last year.
Although Johnston has competed in the Goldrush just once - as a team member with Sally Pearson in 2006 - she is passionate about the race and its ability to produce adventure racing superstars, including Mark Elliot, Richard Ussher, Nathan Favae, Hayden Key, John Knight, Neil Gellatly and Dougal Allan.
"Look at the honours board over the years and see who won it and went on to something great ... Part of our motivation is to get it back to where it was, a stepping stone to great things," Johnston said.
The Goldrush started with 170 athletes in 1997 and peaked in 2006 with 540 before dropping to 320 in 2010. Entries plummeted again to 177 this year, which was attributed to Christchurch athletes staying home to deal with the earthquakes.
While the Goldrush has always been popular with teams, the numbers of individuals keen to take on three days of racing had dropped.
The pair are keen to attract professionals back to the race and have secured a commitment from New Zealand's "king and queen" of multisport, Richard and Elina Ussher.
"Dougal [Allan] was very excited about that. He said he would rather be second to Richard than race by himself," Pearson said.
Men are keen participants - the biggest category is veteran men. However, the individual women's field is cause for some concern.
It was attracting up to 18 competitors in 2005, when five-times winner Sally Fahey notched up her last victory, and since then numbers have plummeted. Defending champion Joanna Williams, of Wanaka, has raced on her own for the last two years.
Johnston said more female athletes would be encouraged to race, along with school teams, which had previously been a feature of the event.
"Yes, we want pros, but we want people to just come and enjoy the race. Pros bring value, sponsorship, endorsements, media. But the atmosphere comes from the mid-field.
"That is the thing that inspires me about multisport. It embraces all fashions, tastes and people," she said.
The duo plan to open entries about mid-July for next year's race, once they have updated the website. The course would be exactly the same as in previous years.
Landowners were supportive and practice days would be advertised, they said.
The prize pool has been increased from $9000 to $10,000 for the March 24-26 event.
