Organisers of the upcoming Edgell Jog in Bathurst say they are not concerned about an alarmingly low interest in the event just three weeks out from its September 17 run date.
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Just a decade ago, the Edgell Jog was capable of attracting well over 1400 entries.
But as of August 29, less than three weeks out from the 2023 event, the annual 7.5-kilometre race has received just 95 registrations.
Ray Stapley, a member of the Edgell Jog committee, is not worried, though. He's expecting to see entries spike in the week before the race.
"What you usually get is the big spike, where you'll see the numbers go up like a rocket in the next couple of weeks," he said.
"We obviously want to see as many people as we can. I'd like to see up to 700 people running it and more but we're trending towards 500-plus."
An estimated 1500 runners took part in the 2023 Orange Running Festival. The 2024 festival in Orange is locked in for March 9 and 10. Entries for that event open on September 1.
While just last weekend in Dubbo, a similarly strong number of participants - around the 1500 mark - took to the Dubbo Stampede.
In Bathurst, the Edgell Job peaked in 2013 with a massive 1591 finishers, numbers for the Edgell Jog have declined significantly, from 1385 in 2015, to 805 in 2017 before dropping down to just 648 in 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the jog from taking place in 2020 and 2021, and when it was finally able to return in 2022, the numbers decreased again to 520 finishers.
Mr Stapley said the date of the jog - which is usually the third Sunday of September - is still a preference, although it has unfortunately clashed with the 2023 Sydney Marathon.
He believes the marathon hasn't taken too many runners away from the Bathurst event.
"We find this is the best time of year to hold it because it's not too hot and not too cold," he said.
"One year we held it a week later and it was horrendous. It was so hot."
People wait for the weather. They decided at the last minute. That's the way things are these days.
Mr Stapley said the Edgell Jog has tried a number of different initiatives to encourage more competitors.
"We're on Facebook and we've sent out information to all our previous entrants, to say it's on," he said.
"We've still got some pretty good incentives for the better runners and we have various prizes on the day, like accommodation at Taronga Western Plains Zoo for a couple of days.
"We get good support from our sponsors in town and they always put a huge amount of people in, like Tim Cain [of CKM Law] and Capital Chemist."
Mr Stapley believes the weather plays a part in the number of entries the jog can attract each year.
"The guys who have been doing the timing for the last 10 years described it as a Bathurst phenomenon," he said.
"People wait for the weather. They decided at the last minute. That's the way things are these days."
The 2016 race was the last event to see more than 1000 entrants take part.
This year's Edgell Jog will take place on Sunday, September 17, with $5 from every entry to be donated to Veritas House.
Entries are $45 for adults, $30 for children aged 16 years and under, and $90 for families.
Registrations can be done via the Edgell Jog website.
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