Multisport: Big interest drives multi event move

It's already outgrown one Rotorua venue and boasts one of New Zealand's best elite multisport fields.

Now the ThermaTech 3D Rotorua Multisport Festival is set to continue its meteoric rise with another record field expected for the 2013 edition on June 2.

The annual Queen's Birthday weekend off-road extravaganza features 10 separate events and more than $75,000 in cash and prizes, hosting the Australasian Multisport championships.

Despite the economic downturn, entries doubled last year from 2011's inaugural event and organiser Neil Gellatly has had to make one significant course change to accommodate the extra numbers, with the paddling legs to be on Lake Tikitapu instead of Lake Okareka.

"Sheer logistics made this an obvious move," Gellatly explained. "We'd run out of parking at Okareka and it was putting pressure on the first transition but the superb facilities at Lake Tikitapu mean we can go much bigger. And it's not like we're downgrading the event - we're just swapping one stunning Rotorua lake for another - I'm sure the athletes will love the change of scenery."

The new venue is more spectator-friendly, with the entire course visible from transition, and a track right around Tikitapu (formerly known as Blue Lakes) providing a range of viewing sites.

The New Zealand canoe racing championships were held at the same venue earlier in the year, promising a fast course for the elite paddlers on the 9km stretch. It also means the 30km mountain bike second leg will be completely off-road, heading from Tikitapu into the world-renowned fat-tyre playground of the Whakarewarewa Forest.

With ThermaTech coming on board as the new naming-rights sponsor, the festival will also feature the 25km New Zealand secondary school multisport championships, a 2km under-10 fun run, 5.5km and 10.5km trail runs and walks, a half marathon, a standalone 9km paddle and 31km mountain bike race, as well as a 42km duathlon.

Last year, Gellatly had 997 entries across the different festival events, citing the family-friendly atmosphere as a major drawcard.

"I know only too well the time-pressures on families these days and that's why we've got something for everyone," the Dare 2 Sweat Events director said. "Rotorua is just an enormous, scenery-loaded playground and once people get a taste for it, they can't wait to bring their friends and families back."

Nelson's Richard and Elina Ussher will headline the feature race, both aiming for their third successive Australasian Multisport championship win, though the list of challengers is growing longer every year.

Wanaka's Braden Curry may even start as favourite in the men's division, having dethroned Ussher at the Speight's Coast to Coast earlier in the year.