Next year's Godzone adventure race, to take place in and around Queenstown, has sold out within two hours.
The seven-day adventure race which covers everything from cycling to rafting, is due to held in Queenstown from February 27 to March 4.
Godzone chief executive and race director Warren Bates said teams worldwide rushed to be in the first wave of entry registrations.
"It was fascinating to watch the entries come in every two or three minutes from around the globe, which proves the race is achieving year-on-year growth in what is still a relatively niche sport market. Everyone is very keen to race in New Zealand,'' he said.
The event has two racing categories, GZ Pure and GZ Pursuit, and both are now at capacity for 2017.
"The spread is fantastic and the field will be a showcase of world class adventure racers, young Kiwi superstars and newbie teams experiencing their first multiday adventure event.''
Bates said there was a lot of interest from first-time teams.
"It's been brilliant to see a steady increase of teams signing up for the GZ Pursuit race, bringing fresh blood into the sport. Last year we had All Black Richie McCaw complete his very first adventure race and I do think he has inspired quite a few weekend warriors to step up and have a go.''
The event's route is not known until the start of the race but is expected to take days.
This year's event was held around the Kaikoura region and was raced over 530km.
The winning team took three and a-half days to complete the course.
Most other teams took a lot longer and a few of the four person teams did not make it all the way to the finish line.
