Donations to the 2010 Catlin End-to-End are on a par with last year, despite the current economic climate.

Organisers are pleased to report more than $170,000 has been raised so far, and thousands more is expected in the coming weeks as the pledges continue to roll in.

Registration was a little late at this year's event but up to 2,400 people eventually took part.

End-to-End spokesman Stephen Davidson, a member of the Board of Trustees, said: "People were a little late this year in signing up. There was a big rush in the last couple of days, perhaps as people were waiting to see what the weather was going to be like.

"We had 600 people at the start of the week and when Monday came around, it was uh-oh. But then all of a sudden on Tuesday, it came in with a bang.

"By the time Friday rolled round we were on the same level of registration as last year.

"From a fundraising perspective, I would say we are very close to last year. With the economy being the way it is we thought maybe people won't have the same level of funds to raise money for charity, but it appears that people are still very interested, so that's great."

He said: "A lot of pledges will continue to roll in for the next few weeks and then there is the corporate matching programmes, so we won't know the final amount for a couple of weeks.

"But it's fantastic we are effectively at the same level as last year, given the state of the economy."

Mr. Davidson said the most popular events this year were the Middle-to-End Walk and Middle-to-End Bike. He said the End-to-End-to-End Bike is also gaining in popularity.

"Every year the numbers start to grow. Last year we had about 40 participants and this year we had 65," he said.

The biggest fundraising team is First Atlantic Commerce, which has raised more than $20,000. Spectators at Saturday's event will have been amused at the team members' outfits they were the cyclists wearing ballerina tutus.

RenRe, Positive Results Gym and Team CITI were the other big fundraisers.

On an individual basis Mr. Davidson said Pamela Barit-Nolan, Centre of Philanthropy executive director, had topped $7,000 in pledges. Chuck Morgan and Ranisha Simmons are the other top individual participants.

Nearly 600 students took part in the event, with Berkeley Institute, CedarBridge Academy, Sandys Secondary Middle School and T.N. Tatem Middle School wielding the largest numbers.

There were no medical incidents at Saturday's event, just a lot of people with blisters, said Mr. Davidson.

He said the crowds of families and friends cheering on participants at Dockyard was one of the biggest turn-outs in the event's history.

"The atmosphere up there was great. People were tired but very happy to cross the finish line."

At the finish, the crowds enjoyed refreshments and music from Friends of Chewstick and the Bermuda School of Music Steel Pan Orchestra.

Mr. Davidson said: "They were both energised, and tired walkers were happy to stretch down on the grass to listen for a while.

"We always want to emphasise our thanks to our sponsors especially Catlin and M3 Wireless. Their support takes care of the considerable costs of running the event, so that the money raised by our participants all goes to charity.

"And of course, we thank our hundreds of volunteers who come out on event day, many of whom have been pitching in for years.

"A lady at the finish told me, 'I love the End-to-End because it seems on that day everyone you pass smiles at you. It is a real community event."

He said: "We'd also like to thank Keep Bermuda Beautiful who clean up along the trails year after year."

Participant Rosemarie Cameron, who signed up for Saturday's three-mile Fun Walk, said: "The atmosphere was like Cup Match, people along the route were just cheering you on while you were walking. It was great."

The only event not to go ahead on Saturday was the Rowing event, due to organisers deeming the waters of the Great Sound "too rough" for it to take place.

This will now go ahead this Saturday instead.

The charity recipients of this year's End-to-End are: Adult Education School, Alzheimer's Support Group, Bermuda School of Music, Chewstick Foundation, Greenrock, Keep Bermuda Beautiful, The Family Centre, The Reading Clinic, Sandys 360, and Windreach Recreational Village.