Browns Athletic Society president Brad McCallum said the only other times the event had been affected were during World War 2 and in 2022 due to Covid-19 crowd restrictions.
But the El Nina weather pattern slamming the province with heavy rain was enough for the committee to pull the pin on last Saturday’s event.
The ground was saturated and slippery, making it too dangerous for the cycling, bushcraft and athletics to use it, he said.
"We were just looking out for everyone’s safety.
"We made the call a couple of days beforehand and we knew we were going to get a heap of rain on Saturday as well, so we made the decision to move it until the 24th of February."
The speed shearing and live music held in the marquee in the evening still went ahead as usual.
"Everyone has been pretty understanding and we just had to go back to our vendors [to let them know]."
He acknowledged moving the date could mean a clash with other sports events, but this was typically unavoidable.
"We are always clashing with something ... at the end of the day we’ve just got to do our best and hopefully get a better turnout."
People from Invercargill often travelled to support the event.
"We’ve had really good support in the past few years.
"It’s a good, fun day out for all the kids. We’ve got all that free kids’ entertainment, so the kids are all occupied."
The weather in Invercargill was often quite different between town and the central Southland location, which made it difficult to predict and compare the two locations, he said.
"People think if it’s cold in town it’ll be cold at Browns, but if it’s good in town and it’s good at Browns we attract people."
While no specific public events were planned to celebrate the 125th year the event had been held, the Browns Athletic Society members and past members held a private function to mark the occasion.
- By Toni McDonald
