Race acclaimed despite disruption

Despite eight injured competitors and a disrupted start, organisers say the ninth annual Motatapu endurance race on Saturday near Wanaka, has been one of the best.

The race got off to a slow start on Saturday morning when one of the buses organised as transport from Arrowtown to Wanaka did not show up, leaving more than 40 competitors stranded for over half-an-hour.

Motatapu race director Geoff Matthews said he was disappointed by the hiccup, which was the result of one of the contracted bus drivers not showing up to work.

However, Mr Matthews said it was important not to focus on the negative, and the hour late start for marathon runners, plus a 15-30 minute delay in the mountain bike and multi-sport races was unlikely to have affected the results.

''It's hugely disappointing. At the end of the day I am sure it didn't effect anyone's performance.''

The marathon runners were scheduled to begin at 8am, but were delayed until 9am.

Mr Matthews said radio contact from organisers in Arrowtown indicated the bus would be just 30 minutes late to the starting location at Glendhu Bay, and had they known it would be an hour, they would have started the race on time.

''We need to look at the big picture; it is a massively successful event and people arrived at the finish line happy.''

In a separate incident, another bus driver drove his vehicle into a ditch near the starting line after dropping off competitors in the race.

There were no passengers on board at the time and no-one had been injured. Mr Matthews said logistically speaking it was hard to get everything correct in an event with 3760 plus competitors, yet they managed to get most to the finish line uninjured and on time.

Eight athletes were taken to Lakes District Hospital at Frankton on Saturday with injuries.

St John communications officer Kelvin Perriman said a 49-year-old woman with a head injury was taken to hospital by helicopter, while seven others with mainly hip and shoulder injuries were taken by ambulance.

''This was probably a small number of injuries considering the amount entered and doing the race,'' he said.

''I don't think that any [injuries] were particularly serious; just the odd scrape here and there.''

One patient with a hip injury was transferred to Southland Hospital in Invercargill. Mr Matthews said the number of injuries at this year's event was either on a par or below the average number of injuries received each year, and it was an impressive statistic considering the nature of the competitive and fast-paced events.

''That is probably the least we have ever had. That is remarkably low statistic.''

The 51-year-old race director, who also competed in the triathlon event, said the field of athletes was phenomenal, and predicted the event would sell out quicker than usual in its 10th year.

''A lot will want to come back. This has got to be the most unique course in the world.

''It's been another incredible, successful year.''