The 26km race, over Flagstaff, Swampy Summit and Mt Cargill, is set for March 15.
But already there is strong interest, and several dozen attended a "training run" yesterday.
Race director Lydia Pattillo said despite a bitterly cold and wet Dunedin summer the conditions remained relatively dry.
"There is one muddy section down from Swampy Summit to Leith Valley, but it’s muddy no matter what the weather’s been in the summer. But we’re actually feeling pretty lucky.
"Obviously, we have had a lot of trees and stuff to deal with this year — more so than previous years. But at the moment it’s looking OK," Ms Pattillo said
The orientation runs were "always a point of interest".
"We offer an orientation to anyone who wants to familiarise themselves with the course, whether it’s their first time, or we get lots of returners just wanting to check out what the terrain is like and the conditions after this particular summer.
"It’s the sort of race that requires good, strong quads. There is a lot of climbing and a lot of just determination. So, you could kind of think ‘yes, it’s 26 kilometres’ but you’d probably take the same sort of amount of time as you would on a flat marathon course."
This year was the 43rd iteration of the competition, which was fully subscribed for the 26km version, and the shorter "one peak" 11km Mt Cargill run, and had strong interest in the 56km "three peaks plus one" which added the Silver Peaks range.
They expected more than 600 participants across the events.
There will also be a 1km children’s fun run. The participants will be joined by special guests Dame Sophie Pascoe, a 19-time Paralympic medallist, and five-time Commonwealth Games medallist and team chef de mission Nigel Avery, who are in town celebrating the King's Baton Relay ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games this July.
"They were just looking out for an event that was going on on March 15 and it just so happened that Three Peaks was happening so they approached us."
Trail running was regarded as a "typically male" pursuit, which meant the Three Peaks run had another point of difference as nearly half of the participants were female.
"We’re sitting just under a 50-50 split, which is pretty big for New Zealand considering most races are about 70% male, 30% female," Ms Pattillo said.
