IF the first day of the Cairns Airport Adventure Festival is anything to go by, the main event on Sunday will be unlike anything the region has seen before.

More than 1000 competitors who yesterday paddled, cycled, swam and ran their way to Port Douglas hailed the opening day a resounding success in what is a positive sign for the future viability of the region’s biggest sporting festival.

USM Events CEO Geoff Meyer said he couldn’t be happier at the way the opening day of Adventure Festival had gone given that it was a "toe in the water" for a bigger and better event in 2012.

"To get 1000 people competing in the first day is absolutely fantastic," he said.

"Now we go back and put a really good international marketing campaign together and I think we can triple those
numbers."

He said the event’s success lay in catering to a range of competitors, from "weekend warriors" to top athletes who used the Coral Coast Triathlon as a warm-up for the Challenge Cairns ironman distance.

"It all starts now – the locals and the community are really going to start to understand what this event is all about, how big it is, and how big it will be in the future," Mr Meyer said.

"You’ll see the circus marquees being put up tomorrow, the big finish line and all the infrastructure that will be put in place, the helicopters buzzing around, it’s the start of an amazing thing."

Cairns Mayor Val Schier said the events had already been a boost to the economy and "every element" of them would grow.

"I’m also touting the Cairns region as being the adventure capital of Australia – this demonstrates that we can do amazing events in a stunning natural environment, so this is just the beginning really," she said.

Entrants in the RRR Mountain Bike Challenge, Coral Coast Triathlon and the Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge crossed the Four Mile Beach finish line together in front of hundreds of supporters.

Men’s winner in the 30th Coral Coast Triathlon men’s field was Joseph Lampe (NSW), and Brisbane 20-year old Emily Donker in the women.

"The conditions were really nice out there, no chop in the swim and the bike course was beautiful," Ms Donker said.

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