Runners will have the chance to double their experience in the Three Peaks Mountain Race this year.
The race on March 29 will now be over the ultra-marathon distance of 52km.
That will be run alongside the present 26km and 11km distances.
Race director Steve Tripp said it was hoped the longer race would attract more people to the event, which is run by the Leith Harriers and Athletics club.
‘‘Ultra running is a growth sport, it’s getting bigger,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve had the Three Peaks, the 26km and the 11km, it’s been going for 37 years now.
‘‘So we thought it was quite good to add the extra distance.
‘‘There’s a lot of new events going around the country and it’s just to attract more people from outside the city, show off Dunedin’s hills and trails.
‘‘We’ve got some incredible trails here, that’s a good way to do it, really.’’
The course will follow the same route as the original, although it will take a ‘‘26km detour’’.
The 26km course heads up Flagstaff, Swampy Summit and Mt Cargill, finishing at Chingford Park.
However, the new one will detour at Flagstaff.
Runners will come back down the other side to Silver Stream, then head up Silver Peaks.
From there they will head back to Swampy Summit, before following the remainder of the original course.
At present the event had 134 entries in total, more than it normally would two months out.
Tripp said it had added some interest in the event. However, he hoped that would grow in the coming years.
‘‘It’s the first year, so there will be some interest but possibly it will get more popular in the second year.
‘‘But we’re doing well.
‘‘We’ve already got more entries overall than we would have at this time of year.
‘‘There’s two months to go.
‘‘We can have up to 100 people in the ultra race and we can still have up to 200 in the 26km as well, so that’s almost double what we’d usually get for the 26km [by itself].
‘‘A lot of them are coming from out of town, as well.’’
The race would be the first official ultra-marathon in Dunedin, although there was the unofficial Crush the Cargill.
