ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN UTÖ – CANCELLED
ÖTILLÖ SWIMRUN UTÖ – CANCELLED
Dear racers, friends and family
We are extremely sorry to announce that we have to cancel this weekends ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö races at this very late hour.
TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT!
We received a permit from the Police for the races this weekend. For our permit application we specified in detail how we wanted to put on the race weekend, the same set up which is posted on the website. They issued us a written permit on the basis of what we handed in.
On Thursday (5 days ago) we were contacted by the local Police who said that we had been denounced by someone and asked us how it was possible for us to have a permit for the races with so many people on the start list. We answered that it was what we had applied for and that it was better that they talk to their own legal department.
After hanging up we immediately contacted the Police legal department to report that we had been contacted by the local Police and asked them to clarify our permit with all the specifications of our application. In return we got a written answer with no modification or change to our permit.
On Friday we again wrote to the Police Legal department and explained that we could not go ahead with the race weekend on the unsure premises that the local Police might come out and have a different opinion. We asked again that they would put our race specifications in the permit. Again this request was left unanswered.
We also contacted the local Police again to see if they had discussed our permit further with the legal department. No answer.
Monday, Yesterday we continued our chase of the local Police at the same time as we contacted someone specialized in administrative law to find out what legal space we had based on our permit application and the permit acquired.
Tuesday, Today after having discussed the situation at length with the legal council we have come to the conclusion that we have NO legal space at all to maneuver within. We also finally got a hold of the local Police and asked outright if they saw any possibilities for us to host the races based on the premises we have set forth in our permit application. Their answer was – we understand that the races will not be a problem but also that the law is very clear about the fact that only 50 persons are allowed at one time and that we could not go ahead.
We want to be a beacon of good energy in this world and we will always stand on the right side of the law. Based on all of this we have come to the decision that we cannot go ahead. We cannot push this situation any further than this. We should not have been issued a permit in the first place. The slack that the Police gave us from the beginning became our downfall.
We are devastated about this situation. We feel for you, all our racers and we feel for all our partners. We also feel for all our volunteers and our organization who have been so excited to put on a great race weekend for you. We feel for the island of Utö!
Your entry fees
You can choose if you want to leave your entry fee with us as credit for ÖTILLÖ Utö 2021 on May 29 & 30 or if you want us to pay you back 95% of the entry fee as we cancel within days of the event (5% is our cost to the credit card and registration services). If you decide to leave your money with us we will move your team to the new start list for ÖTILLÖ Swimrun Utö 2021.
If you want your money back, please send an email to [email protected] to let us know before October 30th, so we can do the transfer and remove you from the start list.
Utö Värdshus
Utö Värdshus is open this weekend. Swimrun in nature is not against the law. If you do not have other plans, make something positive out of the weekend.
If you need to book more rooms for friends and family or cancel your booking either email them at [email protected] or call them between 9am and 3 pm on +46 8 504 20300.
With respect,
Michael, Mats and the ÖTILLÖ team