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Created: 27 April 2020

Last Updated: 27 April 2020

53rd Kainuu Orienteering Week will be held in 2021

Kainuu Orienteering Week will be held in Suomussalmi 4.-9.7.2021. The entries and registration are moved automatically to the year 2021. 

If participant don´t want to participate in Kainuu Orienteering Week 2021 we will return the already paid participation fee. Due the Finnish Orienteering Federation´s instructions and rules, in the circumstance of event postponement, when the participation is cancelled we will reserve office fee 5 € / competition day / participant. 

Information briefing about the event and instructions about participation changes and cancellations has been send to all registered participants by email on 27th of April 2020. If the participant has registered to Kainuu O-Week but haven´t had information via email please contact us info@rastiviikko.fi

If the participant have paid participation with Exercise Benefits we cannot return the participation fee (due the instuctions of the Finnish Tax Administration). In this case we recommend the transfer of the participation for year 2021.

NOTICE! Your registration/entry is personal and it cannot be moved to some other person.

We are deeply sorry about this postponement and the different problems what this situation might cause to you, but most importantly we will wish you health, good and positive energy for orienteering and to your life for this year.

See you on next year in Suomussalmi and Haverinen area´s perfect orienteering terrains!


Photo: Touho Häkkinen

Details

Created: 27 April 2020

Last Updated: 27 April 2020

The world´s second oldest orienteering week and one of the biggest orienteering event in Finland the 53rd Kainuu Orienteering Week has been postponed for one year because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Kainuu Orienteering Week will be held in Suomussalmi 4.-9.7.2021. Originally, Kainuu O-Week was planned to organize this year on 28.6.-3.7.2020.

Agreement for this decision was done by the Kainuu Orienteering Week union (Kainuun Rastiviikko ry), organizing club Suomussalmen Rasti and the Finnish Orienteering Federation. Additionally, some co-operation and coordination related to decisions and briefing (for media and customers) was done together with Fin5 Orienteering Week which was initially planned to organize on 5.-10.7.2020 in Kuusamo-Posio.

– We have been following the coronavirus situation closely starting from beginning of March and at the same time we have planned several options related to the event arrangements. Despite the Finnish Government´s decision on the last week (all events with over 500 spectators are forbidden until the end of July) we already had prepared this decision of postponing, says Marko Horneman the chairman of the Kainuu Orienteering Week union

– In organizing such event for 4000-5000 participants like Kainuu Orienteering Week in these exceptional and hard conditions we had to realize that the risks of health and safety increased too much - we had to protect our spectators, participants, volunteers and overall the people of Kainuu region area and of course the negative financial situation was already grown so the arrangement of the event would have been impossible, says the chief of competition Pirjo Neuvonen  

The 1st Kainuu Trail Hossa National Park (Finland) 27.6.2020 trail running event will be also postponed for one year. Next year the Kainuu Trail event will be held in Hossa National Park on 3rd of July 2021.

– In this hard and challenging situation we saw that the only option for Kainuu Trail event was also the postponing for next year, even that this event would have been possible to organize under 500 participants. With this decision we are able to minimize the risks related to health of our participants, volunteers and the Kainuu region´s people, says Jukka Liuha the Kainuu Trail event director and the Kainuu O-Week general secretary. 

– For sure, this exceptional situation is a very big challenge for Kainuu region´s finance, when only the Kainuu Orienteering Week and Kainuu Trail event´s financial effects are between 2,5 - 3 million euros - and it seems that the other big events of the Kainuu area on this year are also most likely to be postponed so the total impacts of these are in very large-scale, Liuha continues.

In both events the registered participants entries are moved directly to year 2021, because Kainuu Orienteering Week and Kainuu Trail events keeps all original registrations and participation fees valid. Information and instructions about new registrations and possible cancellations will be given soon in our web pages and social media.

Because of this postponing all the other upcoming events of Kainuu O-Week changes as follows:
1st Kainuu Trail Hossa National Park 3.7.2021
53rd Kainuu Orienteering Week 4.-9.7.2021 Suomussalmi
54th Kainuu Orienteering Week 3.-8.7.2022 Puolanka
55th Kainuu Orienteering Week 2.-7.7.2023 Kuhmo
56th Kainuu Orienteering Week 30.6.-5.7.2024 Kajaani


Photo: Hannu Huttu