Media Release – Friday 5 November 2021
COVID-19 Delta takes another event - 66th Kawerau King of the Mountain
The COVID-19 Delta variant continues to disrupt the event industry and the community-driven Kawerau King of the Mountain race has fallen victim to the pandemic and will not be possible in 2021.
Under the Alert Level 2 restrictions, the race is restricted to 100 people per defined outdoor area.
The Kawerau Mountain Race Director Lee Barton said, “We initially pushed out race day to the 20th November with the hope that either the region would be at Alert level 1.
“Organising this event takes time and requires stability, plus the cooperation of numerous stakeholders and we are grateful to everyone involved for being on board with this event in the hope that it could continue.
“The spiritual home of the Kawerau Mountain race is Firmin Field in Kawerau, at the foot of Pūtauaki Maunga; it is a Council owned passive reserve and the community are free to access the reserve at any time for recreational purposes. This is where the race records have been set and broken over 65 years.
“Firmin Field is a place of great memories for those that have risen to the challenge. This is where a gathering of over 100 people will potentially take place, as the supporters welcome their runners back from the climb of Pūtauaki. It’s a very sad and difficult decision for me to make to cancel the race for 2021.” Mr Barton said.
Kawerau District Council in association with stakeholders and landowners will now decide on what will happen to the Kawerau King of the Mountain race, and possible planning under the traffic light system.
The government’s announcement of the new traffic light system which the district will move into once achieving the 90 percent vaccination rate means determining how large events are run.
Council is disappointed that the King of the Mountain Race is not going ahead, but mindful that this is good reminder to our district that we need to get the vaccination rates up for future events to go ahead once reaching this rate.
Under the new framework, events could potentially be in a position to return to pre-COVID operations, but event organisers may need to opt into a vaccine certificate policy if they host an event with over 100 people attending.
Mr Barton added, “We are still clarifying how the new framework will work, but my interpretation of the vaccine certificate is that all the event attendees will need to provide their certificate, either as a runner, volunteer, safety services provider, and contractor or even as spectators.
Ends
For more information, please contact Tania Humberstone on 027 464 3785.