The Kathmandu Coast to Coast will introduce a handful of changes, including a new category, to next year’s race which will be its 40th event.
What those changes are will not be revealed until this year’s race is over.
Some of the changes are down to the high demand for entries and event organisers wanting to ensure all those who wish to compete in the multisport event have the chance to do so, while others have been implemented to make the event safer and more enjoyable.
Entries for this year’s race stand at about 1000, a big comeback after they dropped below 500 a few years ago.
"Just like the athletes who want to find that small wee margin to go faster or do something better, we too, as event organisers, continue to work tirelessly to ensure the Kathmandu Coast to Coast is the best possible event that it can be," race director Glen Currie said.
"Covid-19 ensured we took another look at the event and some of the changes have come about through that, while some of the others have been about finding a way to open the event up to even more people to be able to enjoy and experience what the Kathmandu Coast to Coast is all about."
Coast to Coast organisers have been working with the event’s major partners to open it up for more people to enjoy.
Organisers said these changes had been several years in the pipeline with safety, enjoyment and looking after the environment all priorities. Event organisers now felt confident the new race category would achieve all those things.
More details would be released after this year’s event on February 12-13.
Entries for this year’s race opened as soon as the 2020 Coast to Coast finished, and sold out in just a few days.
However, opening entries for the 2021 Coast to Coast less than 24 hours after the completion of the 2020 race created a massive workload cross over between the two events, organisers said.
Therefore entries for the 2022 race will not open until March 8.
Mountain Run entries will continue to be offered in the same way as they were last year — entries will open on September 1 by way of a registered ballot.
There will, however, be changes to the registration on the Thursday leading up to the event, as the large number of competitors led to the Westland Events Centre being swamped by athletes. Beginning next year, athletes will be allocated a time to register.
