Several Otago competitors will get to race alongside the world's best in Wanaka this weekend.
The Red Bull Defiance begins on Saturday, the showpiece event alongside the Giant Minaret Burn MTB and Torpedo7 Skyline Traverse.
Names such as Braden Currie, Dougal Allen, Courtney Atkinson, Elina Ussher, Marcel Hagener, Simone Maier, Sarah Fairmaid and Bob McLachlan are among the elite in action.
However, alongside Currie and Fairmaid, who are from Wanaka, there will also be several other Otago athletes in action.
Dunedin's Mary Gray and Jake Jackson Grammar will both represent Torpedo7 in the Red Bull Defiance.
Queenstown's Hamish Fleming, second in the 2016 Red Bull Defiance, is expected to be competitive in the Skyline Traverse.
Now in its fourth year, the Red Bull Defiance involves competitors racing in teams of two, with the winners expected to cross the finish line on the Wanaka waterfront early on Sunday afternoon.
Competitors bike, run, kayak and abseil over an offroad course through the mountains surrounding Wanaka.
For Currie, it is a chance to defend the men's title he last year won with Josiah Middaugh.
New Zealand's No1 endurance athlete and three-time consecutive world multisport champion, Currie has switched partners, this year teaming with Dougal Allen.
He is excited about the race and said conditions could be particularly interesting.
''In New Zealand you never know what's going to happen and being too cold out on the course is common for doing these races,'' he said.
''When you go up to altitude, you tend to underestimate what you'll need, so you might want to put extra layers inside your transition bag - so if you are cold after the water sections, you have the option, rather than not having the option and going into a stage unprepared.''
Fairmaid is set to partner Rob Nichol.
Marcel Hagner and Simone Maier, are back to defend their Red Bull Defiance mixed team title, while Courtney Atkinson and Elina Ussher have teamed up in the women's race.
Former All Black captain Richie McCaw will race alongside world champion adventure racer Bob McLachlan.
McCaw's wife, Gemma, will race with Australian lifeguard personality Andrew Reid. Olympic silver medallist sailors Alex Maloney and Molly Meech will race in the Skyline Traverse.
There will be 350 competitors from 12 countries in the weekend's events.
