The following email went out to all Cotswold 113 2023 competitors today
Only a few weeks to go now…
Good afternoon all, I hope you’re all well and getting ready for this year’s Cotswold 113 on June 4th ?
We’re just a few weeks away now, so this will be the first of a few Cotswold113 competitor newsletters we’ll be sending out in the run up to the race
If you’ve recently signed up, and missed the previous email newsletter, you can find that HERE as it has lots of info on the race as well as some info on camping and accommodation
In this newsletter, I’ll cover the following
Getting ready for race day
Kit prep and options
Familiarisation day
Refer a friend scheme – We’ve still got places
Marshal request
Not quite ready yet ?
Getting ready for race day
Now’s the time that I’m sure you’re all starting to plan ahead for race weekend
As follows is the link that will take you to the race information pack HERE
This pack contains everything you should need to know about the weekend, but should you think there’s anything missing, please just ask and we’ll add it straight in as this is your info pack, and we want to make sure it tells you everything you need to know
I’ll go on about this over the next few emails too, but it’s really important that you have a read through this at some point before race weekend please as it tells you where to be and when and what to bring.
I’ve tried to make it look a bit less like a race info pack so you can read it at work without being accused of skiving off, and if your household is anything like mine, it’s worth printing off and putting by the toilet as that’s the only peace and quiet you get.
Kit prep and options
In terms of the Swim, we work in line with the BTF rules on Wetsuits, where basically, they’re compulsory below 14deg water temp, optional between 14 – 23, and banned for anything over that.
We’ve ran middle distance races 23 times now down at that lake, and we’ve always been in the Wetsuit Optional range, albeit occasionally towards the upper end of that. What this means is that although they are optional, 99.99% of you will wear one, which i totally understand as us triathletes love the buoyancy of a wetsuit to stop our feet dredging the bottom the lake.
We’ve had a pretty cold spring this year, and the water temp is around 12deg currently, but due to the shallow nature of the lake, it warms up really quickly when the summer does eventually arrive.
For the more nervous swimmers, you’ll be glad to know there’s a couple of spots on our course where you can just about stand up (assuming you’re not 4ft 6″ and take a quick break before carrying on, and that’s totally fine with us.
We’ll provide you with a Silicon Swim hat, so you won’t need to bring your own. If you are allergic to silicon, you’re welcome to bring your own swim hat to wear, but it must be Flouro Orange
We will also have a pile of alternatively Brightly coloured hats by the swim start, which if you’re a more nervous swimmer, you can wear and it just means the water safety crew can keep an extra eye on you to make sure you get around totally safely
If you’re in the lucky position to be able to choose between a road bike and a TT style bike, it’s a TT bike course all day long. The elevation is around 90m total per lap (2 laps on race day) and it’s about as pancake flat as you’ll find this side of Holland. The road surface is decent for about 98% of the course, but this being the Uk, there are a few potholes, which well go out in the days before the race and mark with a brightly coloured paint so you can avoid them easily – There’s no bits of the course where you’d need a mountain bike and you can easily avoid any poor surfaces
In terms of what to carry on the bike, there’s an aid station you can get to on both laps, but it’s a way into the lap (about 23miles in), so worth starting out with your own drinks bottle and the gels or other nutrition you’re going to want to take in during the first few miles. We have a drinks bottle drop area before you go to the aid station to collect a new bottle, and we’ll collect the old ones up and bring them back to the lake for you to collect any you might want to keep if they’re still in one piece as thrown bottles don’t tend to stay in great shape – You’ll need to fight your way through a swarm of wasps though as sticky drinks bottles are like a magnet for those little buggers.
We will have moto marshals who will have a few tubes and basic tools with them for emergencies, but ultimately, it’s the competitors responsibly to be able to fix any punctures themselves with the spares that they’ll carry, and not to rely on the moto guys as it might be a while before they can get to you
The run course is a mix of mainly Tarmac with some hard packed lakeside paths and about 5% grass. For 99% of weather conditions it’s a road shoe course as the lakeside paths deal with rain really well. If, we’re unlucky enough to have a week of heavy rain before the race day, I’ll keep everyone posted on conditions
Familiarisation day
We will hold our Cotswold 113 Familiarisation day on Saturday May 27th.
These are a great way to come and see the course in advance of race weekend, and to get out on the bike and run courses at a really relaxed pace to see what you have in store the week after at the race.
The emphasis on the day is leisurely, so think 13-14mph average speed on the bike, and 10-12min miles on the run. The day will kick off at 09:00 with a guided lap of the bike (28miles – 2 laps on race day) which takes a couple of hours, and then a 30min break before heading out for a lap of the run course (4.3miles – 3 laps on race day) We’ll have plenty of recouping stops as well as pointing out aid stations etc.
There’s no charge at all for the bike and run beyond the small parking fee the lake guys will charge if you come by car, and if you wanted to swim in the lake that day too, you can book that directly with the lake nearer the time – I’ll send out info on both of those things nearer the time to all those signed up.
It’s a great chance to meet other competitors as well as some of us from the team, and a chance to ask as many questions as you like
We ask that anyone wanting to come along please books in so we can get a handle on numbers as well as having a way to communicate with you all directly
Booking for the 113 Familiarisation day is through www.entrycentral.com/113famday
If you can’t make that day, and still fancy seeing the course, I live local to the lake and work from home on race stuff during the week so can nip out for a few hours for a quick bike and run as long as it’s a weekday as my weekends are largely full with family stuff and my son’s racing. My quick days are long gone, so please accept that the pace will be very leisurely, but I’m happy to get out if needed. Drop me an email and we can try and tie a couple of requests together on the same day
If you’re also doing the July Classic on the new bike course, we’ll fix that date for mid June, and get that out in the classic newsletter later this month.
Refer a friend scheme – We’ve still got places
It’s no big secret that it’s a really tough year in the Triathlon industry, and entry numbers are low across all races in the UK right now for tri’s as well as Sportives and running events, even for the big players as well as the little guys like us.
Our race is normally 1,000 slots, and we have around 800 sign up, so 200 slots left less than 2 months from race day
Therefor, if you have friends that fancy racing with you this year, please point them in our direction
We can rack them next to you in transition and get you off in the same wave if you wanted
Refer a friend, and we’ll give you a £20 discount voucher to use with us next year or at the July Classic
Just get them to add your name in the ‘Referred by’ section on their entry form, and drop me an email
Entry open at www.113events.com
Marshal request
We have around 190 paid marshal positions at our races, and we still need a few more heads to fill these rolls. We are very proud that we’ve built up a really good reputation as having some the best marshals in the sport, and we only have that as we really look after them and make sure they have a fun day – A happy marshal is a good marshal
Typically, about 50% of our marshals are regulars, and the rest of friends and family of competitors that want to get involved and see the race from the fun side.
We pay all our marshalls too, and they can choose from either £20 cash or a £40 113 Events Voucher.
We’ll take them through a full briefing, kit them up with whatever they need, give them an event team shirt to keep, and stuff their faces with Hot drinks, burgers and ice creams
All we ask is that they’re over 16 (although adults can brings kids with them to help them marshal, but the kids won’t get paid for insurance purposes), know their left from their right and are pretty enthusiastic
We have two basic shifts:
Bike team – 05:45 briefing – Finished about 11:45 (earlier in many spots)
Run team 07:45 briefing – Finished about 14:30 latest
Marshals get free camping on site and free parking, and are invited to the post race beer with the team too
If you’ve got anyone that fancies being part of our team on race weekend, drop me an email at graeme@113events.com
Not quite ready yet ?
Now’s about the time that I’m sure many of you are getting a little twitchy about doing a full middle distance race in the next 7 weeks ?
With this in mind, it’s not too late to ask for another 5 weeks and defer to the July 9th Cotswold Classic Middle Distance race. It’s basically the same race in the same location, but with a different bike course, that although flat, is slightly more rolling
If you can let me know in the next week or so, I can move your entry for free to the July race.
We can still sort it after that deadline, but it will start to incur increasing cost the closer you get to race day as we have to start buying in things that are not interchangeable between the two races.
I’m conscious that we always get numerous panicky requests nearer to race day that we can’t always fulfil, so if you are having a slightly wobble about whether you’ve done the training, or have picked up and injury, or remembered it’s your better haves birthday, just ask me now and I can move you back to give you another 5 weeks
Lots of the parts of both races we have to buy up front are interchangeable, so although we’ve had to commit to this year’s number forecast and can’t now offer deferrals to the following year now we’re within 8weeks of the 113, we can move you between the two races as required without hassle
Right, that’s it for me for todays newsletter. This one has been a long one, so I hope you’re all still awake
We’re here to help, so please just ask if we can help with anything, you need any advice or just need your nerves settling.
I’ll get the next newsletter out early next month, and at that point you’ll get a chance to choose a specific wave and/or number too, as well as more info on the race.
Thanks and Happy training
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
07595 591612
graeme@113events.com