Coast to Coast to go ahead

The Coast to Coast has avoided the ever-growing list of major events relegated to the scrapheap in the aftermath of New Zealand’s latest move to fight Covid-19 pandemic.

Having canned the two-day race on Monday after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern moved the country to the red traffic light setting, organisers confirmed the one-day race, and the mountain run, will go ahead on February 12.

Starting in pods of less than 100, 284 competitors will line up in the 243km longest day and one-day teams categories – running, biking and kayaking from Kumara Beach on the West Coast to Christchurch’s New Brighton Beach.

Another 90 athletes – starting from different sections of the course – will compete in the 30.5km mountain run.

While it’s a significant decrease from the 1400 athletes who snapped up entries within five minutes last March, it at least means the 40th anniversary edition will run in part.

‘‘Government feedback has been that they do not want events

Stage 4:

to cease altogether; rather they’re asking events like ours to restructure to minimise contact of people as much as possible, and reduce the potential of a mass spread as a result of the event,’’ race director Glen Currie said.

‘‘The longest day is often described as the loneliest day by competitors. You’ve got 243 kilometres of course in a pretty remote setting to stretch out on, which fortunately, for us, enables us to isolate competitors and support crews to a large extent.’’

The mountain run was initially scheduled to take place on February 11, the first day of the two-day race.

Athlete’s support crews have been limited to two people, and friends and family will be restricted from entering the athlete transition areas.