The meeting at the Caledonian Ground from January 20-27 has attracted 361 athletes from 12 countries.
While New Zealand and Australia supply the most, with 224 and 117 respectively, several athletes will bring a more exotic flavour.
Entries have been received from the United States, Spain, the Czech Republic, India and Great Britain.
Those athletes cannot win the title but will receive a visitor's medal should they place.
Organising committee chair Joan Merrilees said it was ''rewarding'' to have such good numbers, after being unsure they would get there at one point.
''Very happy with that,'' she said.
''We thought we weren't even going to get 150 a week out [from entries closing].
''Masters don't tend to enter until later because of injuries and things like that, so we're stoked with 360 entries.
''A reasonable number of countries too, mostly New Zealand and Australia, but we've got a few visiting athletes from India and the States, so that's cool.''
Organising the event had been a big task, although one made easier by having a big committee.
The big challenges had come in co-ordinating everything, with a complete track and field meeting alongside combined-events competitions, a road walk, a cross-country and a half-marathon.
It was also important to take into consideration that masters athletes tended to enter many events and organisers were doing their best to help that.
It would be the first time the championships had been in Dunedin and the fifth time in New Zealand since they started in 1982.
The event was originally slated for 2017 but the university accommodation availability was better after Christmas.
That was one option for those travelling, although many would also stay around the city.
It was not just athletes coming to the city, either, as a team of more than 100 officials is being used to run the event.
Those included some from Australia, as well as from around New Zealand.
On top of that, 20 new officials had recently been graded, many of who were younger local athletes.
Merrilees said it was a big help having such a big crew, as many could not be there at times while they were working.
While the late influx of entries had its challenges, it did not impact on the officials too much, as the number required was the same, regardless.
The event is separate from the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin from February 3-11.
The closeness in dates had been promoted as a chance for athletes to stay and do both events, although Merrilees was unsure how many were doing that.
