Eight home-made trolleys, with varying degrees of robustness, driven on a downhill course through parts of Arrowtown, having to negotiate a couple of hairpin corners made even more dicey by persistent precipitation.
But the co-ordinator of Saturday's 2015 Arrowtown Preschool Trolley Derby said he would not have had it any other way.
Anton Schmitz said rain even forced the postponement of the prizegiving.
It was held on Butler's Green yesterday afternoon, where racers, sponsors and supporters relived their moments of glory at a barbecue.
Top prize in this year's luge race went to Richard Thomas while Arrowtown's Martin Worswick took the trolley title for 2015 driving a horse-themed entry sponsored by builders.co.nz.
Troy Stewart - who came a cropper in his Monk Earthworks-sponsored trolley - took second place, while Mark Pullar, of Roost Mortgage Brokers, was third. Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday from the prizegiving barbecue - held in brilliant sunshine - Mr Schmitz said he would be ''quite scared to run this event on a day like today''.
''We were so busy anyway - it was so popular with the people who were here. If we did it today in the sun, I just don't know how we'd cope.''
While the total amount raised had not been confirmed, Mr Schmitz said he believed the event had raised around $10,000 - and had sold out of sausages and beer.
