A large number of entries are expected for next year's 10th anniversary of the Rail Trail Duathlon on February 28 and March 1.
What was intended to be a one-off in 2000 has now become a firm fixture on the Central Otago multisport calendar, attracting more than 600 competitors each year.
Race controller Graeme Duncan, of Ranfurly, said the organisers had never expected the event to take off the way it did.
"In the first year we had just 105 entrants, and we thought that was pretty good. It was set up to help celebrate the official opening of New Zealand's first rail trail. Now we regularly get up to 600 people competing and they are not elite athletes by any means."
Duathlon liaison officer Owen Graham said the event had remained pretty much the same as it was in 2000, with four stages each day alternating between running and mountain biking.
There had been a significant growth in women and veteran competitors as well as an increase in corporate teams.
One of the interesting features of the duathlon had been the overnight stop in Ranfurly the weekend of the Ranfurly Art Deco celebrations but that would not happen this year as the Art Deco weekend had been changed.
"But competitors and support crews should not despair. There are plans afoot to make the overnight in Ranfurly a memorable one in keeping with the 10th-anniversary festivities," Graham said.
The Rail Trail Duathlon involves running and mountain biking 150km along the former Otago Central railway line closed in 1990 and re-opened by the Department of Conservation as a recreational trail in 2000.
The duathlon is organised by the four Lions Clubs in Central Otago and is run as a not-for-profit event.
An estimated $25,000 has been returned from the event to fund community-based rail trail projects.
