ONCE AGAIN, WE WELCOME THE AUDIENCE TO GGN 2021
The world’s largest enduro race, the Gotland Grand National—now in its 38th consecutive year—is once again ready to welcome spectators to Gotland and the Tofta Shooting Range on the weekend of October 28–30, 2021.
On Thursday (September 2, 2021), the organizer, Nordic Sport & Event, held a meeting with the County Administrative Board, the police, and Region Gotland (health care) to review the action plan and the implementation of this year’s Gotland Grand National.
– We held GGN 2020 with over 2,000 participants, without an in-person audience. GGN was likely the only major event in Europe—and perhaps the world—held in 2020 (March–December). Even then, we were able to present a solid action plan for how we would carry out GGN during a pandemic that is still with us today,” says Conny Bohlin, CEO of Nordic Sport & Event.
For outdoor athletic competitions, such as fun runs and similar events, the number of athletes present in the start and finish areas at any one time may not exceed 900. The audience (and other participants outside the start and finish areas) at such a sporting event are therefore not subject to the participant limits; instead, these individuals are subject to the Public Health Agency of Sweden’s regulations and general guidelines regarding everyone’s responsibility to prevent the spread of COVID-19, etc.
– We are, of course, very happy to once again be able to welcome the fantastic GGN audience to the Tofta Shooting Range. This year, too, we have developed an action plan for holding GGN, but this time with an audience as well. This places significant demands on us as organizers, but also on the participants and the audience. “We have so many different start waves at GGN that we don’t exceed 900 people at a time per wave, and once out on the course, there can be as many people as you like as long as we meet the authorities’ social distancing requirements,” Conny Bohlin adds.
GGN IS ON TRACK TO SET AN ALL-TIME RECORD FOR PARTICIPANT NUMBERS
With just under two months to go until GGN, it looks like the participation record will be broken in this year’s race. A total of 2,814 participants have already registered. In 2020, there were 2,141, and if we compare that figure to 2019 (a non-pandemic year), there were 2,542 registered at the same time. The record was set in 2017, with a total of 3,128 registered participants when registration closed two days before the race.
As for the goal of reaching 300 girls by 2023, things are also looking very positive. As of today, 132 girls—women—have registered, compared to 79 in 2020 and 90 in 2019.
“Based on current projections, we’ll end up with over 3,200 registered participants this year. Ultimately, it comes down to capacity and the availability of seats on the ferries to and from Gotland,” says Conny Bohlin. Destination Gotland (DG) and Nordic Sport & Event are maintaining a very good dialogue regarding capacity, and DG is operating at significantly increased capacity to meet the demand during the GGN weekend.
It should be noted, however, that Nordic Sport & Event has not yet received written confirmation from the County Administrative Board regarding the off-road driving permit and the permit under the Public Order Act. But this should be finalized shortly.
For further information, please contact
Conny Bohlin
Nordic Sport & Event
0708-249494
Photo credit: CrossMor
