The Ghost to Ghost triathlon was stopped by its organising committee after the 20th event in 2009, and Goldrush organiser Neville Grubb announced his possible departure from the race during this year's event in March.
Multisport Adventure Racing New Zealand president Bill Godsall said the events were vital to the future strength of multisport in New Zealand, and the national body was committed to helping retain the races in Central Otago.
Mr Godsall, of Cromwell, is also Sport Central's regional co-ordinator and said the Goldrush in particular attracted a large field of secondary school pupils who needed the opportunity to compete locally.
"They are the future of multisport in New Zealand, which is already suffering a little bit because some of the main events like the Southern Traverse are no longer being run.
We are keen to see the events that are left sustained, and are interested in whatever needs to happen for that to be so," he said.
Unfortunately, multisport events were costly to run, relied on strong voluntary support, and created concerns for organisers regarding liability, Mr Godsall said.
"The days of running an event for fun are gone.
It's actually quite hard work . . . the pitfalls and logistics of running a multisport or multi-day race are huge," he said.
Mr Godsall said the national multisport body would consider purchasing races as a "last resort".
"Ownership is a possibility but certainly not a priority.
But if that is what we needed to do to make sure that an event continued to run, then we would look at it," he said.
Mr Godsall said the longer competitors were in doubt about an event's future, the more damage would be done regardless of whether it went ahead, as preparation could take as many as 12 months for serious athletes.
The Goldrush's future was already the subject of multisport forums and website discussion groups, and a clear decision either way needed to be made as soon as possible, he said.
"We are genuinely concerned."
