Crush the Cargill returns for the seventh time on Saturday, with athletes seeing how many laps they can complete running up and down Mt Cargill in 24 hours.
But for those who want to test themselves even more, they can take part tomorrow night in a new race called the Crush the Cargill 100 Miler.
Organiser Steve Tripp said the aim was to complete 19 laps up Mt Cargill in 36 hours, adding to 100 miles or 161km.
"It starts at 10pm Friday night, so everything about it sucks."
With a koha entry fee, Dr Tripp described it as the world’s toughest, cheapest 100-mile race.
"It is a popular distance in the world and it was reasonably easy for us to put it on, on top of the 24 hour challenge."
The race follows the same route as the Crush the Cargill event, beginning at Bethune’s Gully and climbing nearly 11,000m up to the Mt Cargill summit.
"They will have to be fairly fit to be able to do 100 miles."
For those choosing to run the Crush the Cargill 24-hour challenge, their race will start at 10am on Saturday, and finish Sunday morning, where they will be able to recover with a breakfast provided by The Valley Project.
The original 24-hour challenge was inspired by a similar event in Queenstown, scaling Ben Lomond in 24 hours, Dr Tripp said.
Each lap is the equivalent of 8.5km, with 5 laps equalling a marathon.
The current record to beat is 18 laps, held by Chris Bisley.
As well as being an opportunity for people to test themselves, the event is a fundraiser for The Valley Project.
Dr Tripp estimated over the years it had raised between $15,000-$20,000 for the community initiative.
About 30 people had already signed up, but Dr Tripp said generally people simply turned up on the day.
"We usually get between 80 and 100 people turning up over the weekend to run.
"Anyone can come along and watch, and we’ll have coffee for sale, and you can put some money in the koha bucket and join in the fun," he said.
- Crush the Cargill 100 Miler begins tomorrow, at 10pm, and Crush the Cargill 24 Hour Challenge begins Saturday, at 10am , both starting and finishing at Bethune’s Gully.
