Rotorua Marathon: Aucklanders unhappy with 50 percent refund offer after being excluded from event

Auckland residents who were forced to skip next weekend’s Rotorua Marathon have expressed frustration at the compensation options offered by the organizers.

Auckland residents will not be able to compete in the 2020 event, following the government’s latest Covid-19 announcements, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Auckland would remain at alert level 2.5 until at least September 23 and that more restrictions are likely to be placed on the size of meetings. they still apply after that.

The Rotorua Marathon organizers released a statement on social media last night, saying that “unfortunately participants residing in the Auckland region will not be able to participate in the Rotorua Marathon 2020.”

“We are very disappointed that this is the case, but the safety and well-being of all participants remains our priority.”

All Auckland-based participants could receive a 50 percent refund of their entry fee or a free transfer to the 2021 Rotorua Marathon, scheduled for May 1.

The Facebook post has received multiple comments, many from Auckland-based brokers upset that a full refund had not been offered.

Aucklander Brie Tawhai, who was ready to take part in the race, told the Herald that the ad has been a “hard pill to swallow.”

“50 percent is a slap in the face considering the event is still going on,” he said.

“Of course, you can see that there are costs, but it seems quite low, there are still more than 1000 people competing from different regions.”

“I don’t think I would be so upset about the whole thing if they offered me a 100 percent refund, basically it’s like saying we want to put on a big headlining concert in Auckland and two weeks before let’s say Bay of Plenty and Southland I can’t come … and we won’t give you all your money back, but we’ll still organize the concert. “

When asked about the refund policy, Athletics New Zealand CEO Peter Pfitzinger told the Herald that they wanted to be consistent with what was offered in May, when the event was initially supposed to take place.

Participants were offered the same deal, a 50 percent refund or a carry-over of the entry fee to the postponed date of next weekend or to next year’s event.

“We are trying to be consistent with what we did, so cutting and switching didn’t feel like the right approach and I imagine most will just switch it up next May,” he said.

“We have been watching what is happening in the events industry in general … different events offer a transfer or a partial refund, it is quite unusual for a full refund to be provided.”

More than 600 Aucklanders have entered the event, almost a third of the total number of participants. The organizers were working to contact the Auckland participants individually starting today.

Since the participants had declared their address upon entering, Pfitzinger was confident that policing the rules would not be a problem.

“When registering, people indicate where they are from, so we contacted each of the people who registered from the Auckland region individually, explaining that they cannot participate in the event and here are the options,” he said.

“If people want to be deceptive and lie and cheat, I’m sure they could, but we have their addresses for who the Aucklanders are.”

With the accommodation booked, Tawhai said that she and other people she had spoken to were still planning
to travel to Rotorua and were under the impression that they would be allowed to attend as spectators.

However, Pfitzinger said that would not be the case and that Auckland residents had to comply with level 2.5 restrictions both inside and outside Auckland.

“Auckland residents should behave as if they take their restrictions with them and right now the restrictions for Auckland residents are meetings of up to 10,” he said.

“Someone could drive and see it, they could, but they are asked to bring their restrictions with them when they leave Auckland.”