Christchurch's residential red zone came alive on Sunday as hundreds of mountain bikers took part in a race through the area.
The 'Red-Zone Six 6 Hour Race' is one of the first sporting events to be held in the huge green space, with 230 mountain bikers tackling an 11km circuit through an area that was once a bustling subdivision.
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Race director John Moore said the area lends itself to activities such as mountain biking.
"You've got parts where the footpaths been forced up with liquefaction, there's holes, there's bumps, there's humps," he told Newshub.
Avon Otakaro Network spokesman Evan Smith has long been a campaigner for regeneration of the Redzone area. He said was thrilled to see the event go ahead.
"This is brilliant, even despite the weather, it's really awesome activation of the red zone," he said.
"People are engaging with the red zone and people [are] actually enjoying it - it's an amazing asset."
Given the success of Sunday's event, it looks like there could be more activities like it in the red zone in the future.
Newshub.
