Photo: Luca Peng / Unsplash

Organisers hope the six-day ultramarathon being raced at Christchurch’s Hagley Park can become a permanent feature on a global circuit.

A group of hardy endurance athletes were nearing the two-thirds point of the race on Friday, having been circling the same flat 2.8km circuit since Monday afternoon.

Their aim was to accumulate as much distance as they could, taking sleep breaks whenever they needed to in tents.

Four distances were contested – 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and the full six-day race.

Race director Kerryn Bell said the longest events previously contested in New Zealand were over 24 hours.

She told Morning Report all of the feedback so far was that Christchurch had made a good fist of staging the increased distances.

“These athletes typically do this and then go around the world doing them, they like to have a fast, flat course. So Hagley Park is perfect,” Bell said.

“It’s beautiful. We’ve got the cherry blossoms out, it’s Spring so we’ve got the new ducklings out.

“The feedback from the athletes is that it’s absolutely stunning.

We’ve got a lot of great feedback and a lot of people around the world watching so we’re definitely hoping this becomes a permanent fixture.”

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Bell said it was an enormous logistical exercise running the event, with a large support crew working in shifts to prepare meals, keep a tally on the athletes and provide medical and motivational support.

There had been no major injuries through the first half of the race, with blisters and chafing the main medical issues.

The weather had also been ideal, although a little cool for some of the Australian contingent in the field, Bell said.

Two Australians – Allicia Heron and Sabina Hamaty – are well clear in the women’s race and either could yet break the world record of 665km covered when it finishes on Sunday afternoon.

“Not only are they chasing the current world record, but they’re competing against each other,” Bell said.

“They’re getting a little weary and now the strategies come in. It’s interesting to watch the game of cat and mouse between them.

“One of the ladies is tending to rest less, she is moving at a slower pace, more consistently. The other lady has taken some bigger sleeps earlier on and then come back out onto the trail and actually moving faster.”