The confirmation Auckland will not be moving out of Alert Level 3 until Sunday night has meant the New Zealand cross-country championships will no longer take place at Chisholm Links in Dunedin on Saturday.
With runners from the Auckland area not able to leave the city and head south because of the restrictions in the city, Athletics NZ will no longer stage the championships.
The event will still go ahead but will instead be named the New Zealand cross-country challenge.
Athletics Otago chairman Kevin O’Sullivan said the decision was disappointing but entirely understandable.
The event had attracted about 250 runners but about 50 of them were from Auckland and they were no longer able to come.
Entries close tomorrow night and O’Sullivan hoped to have about 300 runners lining up for the event on Saturday.
Some big names had indicated they would be attending and competition would be strong in some categories.
The event had already been postponed once and it was not feasible in a crowded running calendar to keep moving the event back.
The course was in good shape and would be a good test for runners.
Chisholm Links was used for the Otago championships in a trial run earlier this month.
It is the first time the national championships will not be staged since World War2.
