Under this plan, we will run a 3-day event over 24-26 October — so no event will be held on the Friday afternoon. We will not run the relay under this plan. Instead we hope to run the Sprint on Monday, and if this isn’t possible we will have individual courses on the Relay map.
We will use the Level 2 COVID Rule Changes approved by ONZ Council for the Nationals rules.
The most important rule change is to the Start Draw, so we can keep numbers at the event centre under the limit of a hundred people, including organisers. Instead of being allocated a start time from the entire range of available times, competitors will be assigned to travel groups and allocated a start time within a smaller range along with other members of their group. See below for more details.
Competitors will be asked to arrive at the event centre just prior to their start time and to leave as soon as possible afterwards.
There will be no prize-giving ceremony and no social event.
The details
Travel Groups
Competitors will be grouped by club. A club or group of clubs will be identified as a travel group. Each travel group will remain the same throughout the weekend. Competitors who are not members of a club or not travelling with their club group will be asked to advise where they are travelling from.
Each travel group will be allocated to a time block and there will be a random start by course within that block. The start order of the time blocks may vary for each event.
Elites
M/W21E will be all allocated to a time block of their own regardless of their travel group, so the elite competition can occur as per the normal rules. This will enable the World Ranking Event status of the Long and Middle distance events to be maintained.
Event Centre Facilities
No food, coffee or water will be provided at the event centre, and there will be no merchandising, creche, string course, result screens or commentary. This is to reduce congregation and common contact points as much as possible.
There will be a registration/enquiry desk and first aid facilities. We will provide a local Wi-Fi network for accessing provisional results.
Entries
Competitors are asked to enter by midnight on Friday 9 October, as previously advised. There will be no late entries or entry on the day available.
Refunds
Full refunds for entry fees will be available up until closure of entries. If the event takes place using our Level 2 plan, the relay entry will be refunded.
Competitors who need to withdraw due to illness will get a full refund of their entry fees. Unfortunately, Orienteering Wellington cannot take liability for any loss associated with travel or accommodation cancellation.
QR scanning/contact tracing
There will be COVID-19 QR codes at each event for all participants. Spectators and the general public who are not entering are discouraged from attending to make it easier to trace all contacts in the event of an outbreak.
Prize-giving
Although there there won’t be a prize-giving ceremony, winners will be recognised online.