Organisers of tomorrow's Tarawera Ultramarathon have had to make what they call a very tough decision to shorten the race for safety reasons.
Race director Paul Charteris posted the decision on the event's Facebook page this evening.
"The race can now no longer proceed past the Okataina Lodge Aid Station and has been shortened to two distances: 65km or 55km. The race will still start at the same place and at the same location," he said.
It was a critical safety decision. He said the chances of safe rescue from either Lake Okataina or Lake Tarawera was minimal, and they did not want any runners entering a forest (due to tree danger) after 6pm since the danger of either tree or branch fall was significantly increased.
Comments on the post congratulated organisers on making the tough call.
