More than 100 teams will be in Rotorua on Saturday to compete in the New Zealand Road Relay Championships.
The annual championships are being hosted by the Lake City Athletic Club for the second consecutive year and race director Chris Corney said while some entries were still being finalised they expected to at least match the 111 teams who competed last year.
The senior teams will race over a seven-leg, 67km course. The junior, social and over-60 teams will race over a six-leg 45km course.
"When we applied to host it two or three years ago, it was requested that if we did host it we do it for two years. It's good for Athletics New Zealand, but also good for the council because it meant they could encourage an event that would bring people into the city two years in a row.
"By the time you get all the support teams and everything there's about 1000 extra people here for the weekend. You can always improve on the first one, but in saying that the second year is a lot easier because you know what to expect.