More than 1200 women descended on Wanaka at the weekend for the female-only Spring Challenge adventure race.
Participant numbers have grown from 300 since it was started in 2007 by world champion adventure racer Nathan Fa'avae.
Sponsored by Torpedo7, the event is held in a different part of the South Island each year and the inaugural North Island version will take place in Rotorua next year.
On Saturday, more than 400 teams of three women biked, hiked and rafted from Lake Hawea to south of Luggate, via rivers and riverside tracks, and then to Wanaka, via the Pisa Range and Lake McKay and Criffel Stations.
How much of the route the teams covered depended on whether they were competing in the three-hour, six-hour or nine-hour event.
The longest event involved 10 to 15km of rafting, 45 to 55km of biking and 20 to 30km of hiking.
Race director Fa'avae said the largest field in the event's history -1230 competitors - and great weather made for an ''amazing weekend''.
Women came from throughout the South Island and ranged in age from 12 to 69.
The average age was about 40.
Next year's event, which will also be held in late September, will take place in Golden Bay.
Results.-Nine-hour race, Team Torpedo 7; six-hour race, Team Minions; three-hour race, Team The Trio.
• Jessica Maddock
