ANTHONY Farrugia will attempt to defend his half marathon crown at this weekend's Port Macquarie Running Festival as a huge amount of competitors prepare to lace up their shoes and hit the pavement.
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Returning alongside Farrugia is last year's women's half marathon winner Kirsten Molloy, while ex-Commonwealth Games runner Louis Rowan will also take part in the major event of the festival on Sunday.
About 800 entries have been received so far, and running festival race director Peter Camilleri expected the numbers to exceed 1000.
"We always get heaps of last-minute entries," Camilleri said.
"It certainly looks like we're up on last year."
Online entries for the fourth instalment of the running festival have already closed, but you can still sign on to run.
Just head to the registration tent on the Town Green tomorrow from 1pm-4pm or on Sunday morning.
Runners are coming from as far afield as Queensland and Victoria this year.
More than 600 entries have been fielded from out-of-towners.
"That's a good injection for the economy," Camilleri said.
The half marathon gets underway at 7am Sunday. There are various distanced races all morning.
Camilleri encouraged the kids to have a crack at some of the shorter distances.
This year the youngsters will receive a finishing medal and a fun pack with, among other things, a drink bottle and some lollies to snack on and get those energy levels back up.
Camilleri looked forward to the future of the festival, and was excited about what can be achieved in coming years.
"It's really building," he said.
