North Otago Aero Club hosted their first ever Run the Runway event at the weekend.
More than 100 people of all ages put on their running shoes and ran the length of the runway at the Oamaru Airport.
Having such wet weather on the Saturday, president Hayden Williams was pleased to see it improve for a great day out.
"Nothing like rain all night to make you think about your event the next day."
Flight instructor and club manager Stephanie Redepenning had attended a similar event in Timaru last year and decided to bring it to North Otago.
"It’s something that other aero clubs around the country do or have been been doing, but as far as I know, that was the first time that it’s been done here."
About 30 people had booked in advance, and that number tripled on the day, she said.
Initially, Mr Williams was not totally convinced on the idea for event.
"As a pilot it seems like a strange idea, who would want to do that?
"But then for people who don’t come and do that very often, it’s turned out to be quite a good idea."
The event was a fundraiser for the club, he said.
"The aero club runs as a non-profit organisation, we set our rates at the bare minimum in order for the club to just maintain its own steam.
"We do get a few anomalies from time to time of costs that were unforeseen, so we do a bit of fundraising on the side in order to cover that."
There was a raffle as well as a barbecue for all the participants afterwards.
The event was also an opportunity to welcome locals into the club and plenty of the families were checking out aircraft after the race.
He hoped to see it become an annual event on the calendar, Mr Williams said.
"Anything that gets people active is a good thing."
