UTS 2020: Cancelled
Dear APEX Runner,
It is with great regret that I must announce that this year's UTS event will not be taking place. Following a meeting with the senior event team last night, this decision has been made in light of yesterday’s coronavirus update from the Welsh Government, as well as several other factors. We had hoped it would be announced that outdoor events of up to 100 would be allowed to go ahead, which would’ve provided the event with some headroom as well as myself the confidence that it could go ahead without any backlash. Unfortunately, this announcement hasn’t seen fruition.
Instead, the country as a whole now faces increased restrictions, with many new ones now in place across Wales, heavily skewing the narrative within which we would be hosting UTS and heightening the chance of any negative backlash it may be exposed to, which could potentially damage the reputation of the event locally and further afield, moving forwards.
While the Snowdonia National Park Authority have been supportive of our proposed reduced-scale event format, I’ve come under increasing pressure from both Gwynedd and Conwy Council’s Safety Advisory Groups, to cancel. They have interpreted the current guidelines differently to us by stipulating that the event must have no more than 30 people on-site at any one time throughout its duration. This would present us with additional difficulties to manage when we factor in parking and camping for all competitors, plus the event team, so the risk of the local police showing up due to a complaint and shutting the event down would be very real.
Despite my best efforts to host UTS this year, the current risk/reward ratio relevant to such activity has now forced us to accept cancellation as the only viable option in this current climate. This is certainly what my gut instinct is now telling me. Many of you will know I was a runner myself before I became a Race Director and the qualities of unwavering optimism, tenacity and an absolute dogged-minded refusal to give up at the first or even 20th hurdle are all qualities that benefit any ultrarunner. Such is the work life of an RD too at times. Please understand I have done everything I could to make the event happen this year, but sometimes in life, as in racing, a DNF is your only option.
Via email, all entrants have now been informed of the options moving forwards.
Thank you again for your continued support of this event and my business.
Michael Jones - Ultra-Trail® Snowdonia Race Director
