The 40th anniversary edition of the Coast to Coast race will be going ahead on Saturday 12 February, albeit in a reduced format.
The Coast to Coast race's one day events will be going ahead, but its two-day event categories have been cancelled. Photo: Supplied / Kathmandu Coast to Coast
Organisers were forced to cancel the two-day event earlier in the week due to the country moving into red traffic light setting.
This has reduced the number of competitors by over 1000.
Race director Glen Currie told First Up there was simply no way to provide a safe event for the two-day athletes, support crew and spectators.
It had been a big week but organisers were confident a smaller scale race could go ahead, he said.
"I suppose probably one of the things for an organiser is ... we have to think 'do we feel comfortable we can run [the event] and not become a super-spreader event'.
"We do feel that we can adhere to government guidelines."
Plenty of measures were being taken to reduce the risk of transmission, with support crews limited to two people and competitors starting in waves, Currie said.
"Competitors in the Longest Day and One Day Teams categories will start in pods of less than 100."
Food and beverage offerings would also be cut, impacting a number of community groups that often rely on the revenue as part of their annual fundraising.
"We've traditionally been able to facilitate and donate up to $50,000 per event to the likes of the Springfield, Sheffield and Moana Schools, the Malvern Lions Club, Kumara Community Trust and a raft of others, but unfortunately this will have a knock-on effect," Currie added in a statement.
Two-hundred and 50 athletes are set to compete in the event, with over 40 people part of the new one-day teams format.
The mountain run section of the course will also go ahead with 90 competitors a the day after the main race.
It is normally run on the Saturday with the main race.
"We know this will impact a few athletes with accommodation and travel arrangements, but with greater management comes greater cost and we need to find ways to accommodate as many people as possible," Currie said.
The first wave of competitors will start from Kumara Beach on the West Coast at 7am on Saturday 12 February.
Wellington Round the Bays cancelled
The Round the Bays run in Wellington has now been cancelled due to Covid-19.
The event had been postponed to early April, but organisers said that was no longer an viable option given the modelling around the spread of the Omicron virus.
It is the first time the event has been cancelled in 22 years.
Nuku Ora organises the event and its chief executive Phil Gibbons said in a statement that all paid registered participants would receive a 75 percent refund.
The refund process would likely take a few weeks due to the number that needed to be processed, he said.
In a statement, Nuku Ora event manager Patrick Pierce said a virtual Round the Bays event was being organised for paid registrants and further details would be released shortly.
