More than 15,000 apps supporting RIM’s anticipated BlackBerry 10 operating system were submitted to the company during its Port-A-Thon event last weekend.

RIM VP of developer relations, Alec Saunders, confirmed the figure via Twitter. Developers could submit their apps for a 36 hour period starting from midday on 11 January.

The Port-A-Thon encouraged developers to submit apps for BlackBerry 10 by offering cash rewards of $100 per approved app for up to 20 apps.

For those submitting five to 10 approved apps, the first 200 qualified for a BlackBerry Dev Alpha Device plus $100, while the first ten developers to submit 10 or more apps secured a paid trip to the BlackBerry Jam Europe event.

Those who didn’t qualify for these prizes were entered in a random draw for 100 BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Devices and 10 trips to BlackBerry Jam Europe

Apps built on Appcelerator, Marmalade, Sencha jQuery, PhoneGap or Qt were eligible for the Port-A-Thon although Android apps — which can be converted for BlackBerry 10 — were not.

A final 36 hour Port-A-Thon for BlackBerry 10 is being run from 18 January.

Devices powered by the OS are due to be launched on 30 January.