Two trends of the past decade are evident in the multi-sport Challenge Wanaka festival which began last Monday and reaches its zenith with the half and full ''iron'' distance triathlons today.
One is the growth of triathlon - swimming, biking and running - both at competitive top levels and in participation. The other is the growth of large sophisticated sporting events for individuals, or small ''teams'', as distinct from traditional team tournaments. These trends come together in one of Otago's biggest sporting occasions.
As Wanaka's peak holiday season subsides after the heights of New Year, a huge secondary influx occurs. Athletes (more than 2000 participants across the week - 1500 in today's triathlons alone) and their supporters, perhaps another several thousand, flood into Wanaka and fill the homes, cafes, shops and bars.
For those eager to see Wanaka flourish and grow, the event provides this most welcome surge, although it should be acknowledged closed-off streets have and do cause disruption and upset for some businesses. Organisers put the direct spending figure at $6 million, a particularly hefty sum for an area of only about 7000 permanent residents.
More important long term is the additional profile from Challenge Wanaka. The competitors and their accompanying friends and relatives spread the word, the race itself with its spectacular scenic backdrop receives immediate coverage and representatives from magazines in Europe, the United States and Australia have flown in. Organiser Victoria Murray-Orr says one of the magazines plans a large spread on Wanaka as a dream destination.
All this, of course, presupposes that publicity and further growth for Wanaka and the Upper Clutha is positive. This assumption underlies the activities and attitudes of most councils and local tourism organisations. There will be those who believe Wanaka's charm and natural beauty are such it will prosper sufficiently without extra help, that those who always yearn for continual and increasing economic growth are following a false prophet.
Nevertheless, most will welcome the short-term buzz and boost as well as the general exposure, and the races will engender much pleasure all round. From the stars to the plodders, from children to veterans, competitors will be doing their best at their own level. Each will have trials to endure, joys in which to exalt and stories to tell.
Once it was more likely to have been a club or traditional community organisation behind the province's main events. These days Challenge Wanaka, part of a worldwide Challenge network, is overseen by the Challenge Wanaka Sports Trust, a non-profit group run by volunteer trustees. It aims to ''encourage an active and healthy lifestyle, play an instrumental part in growing the sport of triathlon in New Zealand and to deliver an event to the benefit of the local community, both socially and economically''.
Like the Coast to Coast, it is relatively expensive to enter, with the main Challenge event costing several hundred dollars. But it sometimes appears, these days, that the more costly the fee the higher the participation. Club events, on the whole, seem to lack the marketing and organisational clout and profile to draw such crowds. The Caversham Harrier and Athletic Club's Dunedin marathon and half marathon is a notable Otago exception.
Interestingly, these big events, like for example the Motatapu bike and run, whether organised by a business or through a trust, still only work financially with the help of scores (sometimes hundreds) of keen volunteers. In Challenge Wanaka's case, the number is put at 700. Thus, voluntary labour works alongside professional organisers in a modern-day amalgam that seems to work to everyone's satisfaction.
Challenge Wanaka, now in its seventh year and with a prize pool of $80,000 for today's triathlons, continues to grow and continues to draw competitors, supporters and volunteers from a wide area. Notable are the large numbers of extended families, with participants across generations entering various categories in various races. Given the continued and growing popularity of the event for the elite as well as the also-rans, the trustees are well and truly succeeding in fulfilling their aims.
