Participants at the start of the 2016 Spirited Women's Adventure Race. Photo / Jason Beacham
Participants of a Rotorua adventure run are upset, disappointed and outraged with the event going ahead this weekend, leaving some who can’t attend out of pocket.
Spirited Women’s All Women’s Adventure Race is scheduled to begin in Rotorua today and continue until Sunday, despite many participants around the North Island being left without housing, and power, and unable to attend due to the impact of Cyclone Gabriella.
Only those who took out insurance on their event fee via Booking Protect can be eligible for a refund. The Herald understands some individual participants paid $450 upfront for the event, which offers three courses, ranging from $1460 to $1860 for a group of four women.
A participant from Hawke’s Bay called Spirited Women’s reaction to the event “disappointing”.
“I’m so upset and disappointed with them. Our community here is in absolute pieces.”
“Some of our team have been lucky and escaped damage others have not but either way everyone I have spoken to knows of someone directly impacted. Our days have been spent trying to help and feeling a horrible mix of emotions, guilt, relief, heartbreak,” she said.
“Surely now that communication and images of what has happened here are coming to light they could offer a credit or refund to those teams based in these areas.”
She claimed there has been little acknowledgement by Spirited Women of the destruction in Hawke’s Bay.
“The whole event is supposed to be empowering women and their response has been anything but.”
Tauranga-based Jacqui Tecofsky said she had planned to participate but her three friends are unable to attend as they are stranded in Gisborne. She said they have not been offered a refund or any sympathy.
“There are a lot of women affected. It doesn’t seem in the spirit of the event to go through with it,” she said.
The event organisers said in a statement that teams who elected to take out booking protection insurance will have their claims honoured “quickly and efficiently, and their entry fees will be refunded in full.”
They added, “The event partnered with booking protect for the Rotorua event to give entrants the opportunity to cover their team’s entry fee in case of situations such as this.”
Tecofsky said many people would not have opted for booking protection, “You would never foresee this.”
Participants said Spirited Women’s social media posts encouraged women to attend this weekend.
“The way they have worded posts and comments made it seem like they’re encouraging people to have fun. The post says, ‘Looking forward to seeing you guys’,” Tecofsky said.
She said, “Anyone that can’t make the event can’t comment online or get in touch. You’re not hearing from the women who can’t attend.”
Tecofsky said going ahead with the event appeared insensitive, especially as other services like their accommodation were refunded immediately.
“People are stuck in their region, they are stuck without a home. I’m struggling with it,” Tecofsky said.
“It’s a women’s event, it’s all about propping each other up. I don’t feel right about attending and encouraging people to have fun,” she said.
Another participant, Gabrielle Cutfield, said her team were “very lucky” to escape the destruction in Hawke’s Bay, but “the last thing we want to be doing is running around in a jungle.”
“Some girls [meant to be] participating are badly affected and I haven’t heard anything back [from event coordinators],” Cutfield said.
“It’s inappropriate and disrespectful.”
Cutfield said her team would like to donate the funds paid for the event to flood victims, however there had been “a lack of communication and acknowledgment” of that offer.
“It’s just ghostly silence. It’s in really bad taste,” she said.
She added that some consideration of the devastation in the area would go a long way.
Cutfield said, “I understand the financial implications and they need to recover their costs but ... no one is going to compete from Hawke’s Bay again.”
Spirited Women has said the event is going ahead “after very serious consideration” and through consultation with local authorities.
“The current status and forecast reports in Rotorua for the weekend show conditions suitable to run a safe and successful race.”
The organisation said, “Many people are traveling to Rotorua from other parts of the country to participate. The event team is committed to providing an awesome event experience to those who are able to get to Rotorua safely and sympathise with those who are not able to attend due to the impacts of the cyclone.”
— Public Interest Journalism, funded by NZ on Air