Cotswold 113 / Cotswold Classic – Competitor Newsletter #1

Hey All
I hope everyone’s well and glad that it’s finally stopped raining ?

Firstly, thank you for Signing up to our races this year. Although it may not feel like it right now, Summer really is just around the corner and will soon sneak up on us all, so this is the first instalment of the pre race emails.

This will be the only email which goes out to both June 7th Cotswold 113 and July 12th Cotswold Classic Competitors, as from here onwards, you’ll start to get separate emails for each event in the run up to both races.

As any of you that have raced with us in the past will know, I tend to send quite a few emails out in order to ensure you all know what’s happening, and be armed with everything you need to know. I’m going to make a conscious effort this year to waffle a little bit less (although I can’t make any promises), but the nature of this email is quite a long one, so grab yourself a comfortable seat and a coffee as this will be more of a marathon than a sprint.

In this email I’ll cover the following:

What to expect over the next few months
How race weekend works
Familiarisation days
Getting ready for racing
Worried you’ve bitten off more than you can chew
Capacity update
Getting involved
Accommodation near to the lake
Planning a family trip on race weekend

What to expect over the next few months 
I’ll be sending a series of emails out for each race in the run up to the big day. There’s normally about 5 or 6 emails that will be coming out to you all, and we effectively drip feed in the info as and when it’s needed.
The next email you’ll all be getting from me will be within the next few weeks for both races with links to the race info packs, which have everything you need to know about the weekend from where to park, where spectators are best to head, right through to Aid Station menus/locations and maps/Strava links for the courses etc.
Nearer the time, we’ll send out updates on conditions, final start lists, links to live tracking and the last few bits and bobs
As with all the stuff we do, if you’re not sure, we really are here to help, so you can call or email me any time on the contact info at the bottom of this email.
I’ll try not to overload you all with info, but it’s also important that we tell you everything you need to know, especially as we get a lot of first timers at our races, not just the seasoned regulars
All of my emails also get posted to 113events.com/news as well as our Facebook page, which is worth following HERE
The emails are numbered (ie this is newsletter #1) so if you think you’ve missed one, have a check on our facebook or news page on the Website, or get in touch with me.

How race weekend works
The race info pack coming out in the next few weeks will go over all this in detail, but in advance, as I’m know that many of you are now starting to plan out your race weekend, here’s the rough outline of the weekend schedule.

Saturday 6th June / 11th July:
12:00-17:30: Registration
13:00 / 16:00: Briefings 

We do all our registration on the Saturday and we also have a couple of informal briefings. The Briefings are not compulsory, but they’re a good chance to get all the final info on the next Day’s race, and to understand in detail how it works when you’re there. There’s loads of chances to ask questions, and although myself and Dave really are no stand up act, we’ll try and make it light hearted and informal.
They typically take about an hour, and we do them on the grass bank around by the Swim exit area next to Transition.
Also on the Saturday, they’ll be a chance to have a swim in the lake. The lake have their own booking system that you will need to use for the Saturday Swims, and we’ll send info out on that nearer the time as they only allow bookings 7 days out.
Our course won’t be marked out fully at that point, but their 1,500m loop roughly follows the profile of our 1,900m loop.
They also have 400/750m loops too, incase people fancy a swim, but don’t fancy doing the longer distance the day before racing.
If you genuinely can’t get there on the Saturday, we’ll have more info nearer the time on other ways we can get you sorted and registered.
We do all our bike racking on the Sunday. There’s a couple of reasons for that. 1) In order to keep our entry costs down, we don’t hire the transition area on the Saturday, and build transition Saturday night, and 2) In my experience, people spend just as much time checking their bikes, pumping up tyres etc again on the Sunday morning when they’ve racked it Saturday, so we might as well just do the racking Sunday.

Sunday 7th June / 12th July (Race day)
04:30 – CarPark opens
04:30 – Transition Check in opens
06:20 – Transition Check in closes
06:25 – Mass Start wave starts
06:30-07:30 – Rolling start waves 1-6 start 

We’re very aware that not everyone likes a Mass Start in a race, so we offer both.
Around 4-5 weeks out from the race, once the start list is fixed and finalised, all competitors will get an email from me with an opportunity to choose a type of wave, and also for the rolling start waves, a start time (we have 6x10min rolling start wave windows 1-6 and you can choose one)  – I’ll send an email out to everyone at the point you get to choose, but expect it around 4-5wks pre race.
At that time, you will also be able to choose a specific race number, or a series of numbers so that you’re racked together with your mates.
These options are only available to select at the point at when this email comes out around 4-5 weeks out from each race and numbers are first come first served from this point, so please await that email before requesting as I cannot allocate waves and/or numbers until this point.

Familiarisation days

A few weeks before each race, we’ll be holding our usual free of charge Familiarisation days.
These days are a great chance to come down to the lake and meet myself and the team, other competitors and get a guided lap of both the Bike and Run courses and ask any questions you might have. The bike is two laps on race day, and the Run 3, so we just cover a single of lap of both at a really leisurely pace so that no one gets left behind and everyone gets to see what they’ve got coming up on race day.
There will be also a chance to swim on the day too, but we don’t do that in a guided fashion around the loop as differences in swim pace makes that pretty much impossible, so we just let you head out on the loops available in your own time.
In order to keep them free for you all, we don’t fix the dates until Spring time as we have to fit around the other bookings the Lake will take, but they’re traditionally 4-6 weeks before each race day.
They’re a super relaxed day, and both bike and run course laps will have regular stops to regroup and to point out where various things like Aid stations and turn around points are.
I’ll hopefully have the dates available to book in the next few weeks, and will get them out in the next newsletters to both 113 and Classic Competitors.

Getting ready for racing 
I’m aware that many of you are well into your training now, and don’t need anything in the way of guidance. However, for those of you that are either not sure what to get started with, or are complete beginners that need some structure in order to be ready, we’ve come up with a plan.
This year, we’ve worked with Simon Olney, who’s been involved with 113 as both a competitor and a marshal for something like 12 years now, so knows our races inside and out from both sides, and is a very decent coach.
He’s put together a free of charge 16 week plan, which although is more aimed at beginners, can easily be scaled up for competitors that have a bit more experience under their belt.
You can read about it and download the free plan HERE
If you want something more tailored to you, he can sort that and his contact info is on the link above.

Worried you’ve bitten off more than you can chew
If, like me, you took a bit of time off your training and good diet over Christmas, and haven’t quite got around to getting started now or you’ve picked up some injuries (also me), and are getting increasingly worried that race day is creeping up very quickly, don’t stress.
Although we get a wide variety of abilities, our races are mainly aimed at the absolute beginner, and we don’t have any specific Swim, Bike or Run cut offs.
Although the BTF rules say we have to publish an overall cut off of, we set it to the very maximum of 8.5hrs and, in reality, are still pretty flexible with that. Our take on it is, that as long as you’ve not taken a diversion on the bike route into one of the many lovely Cotswold Pubs for a 2hour carvery, we’ll keep the finish line open as long as it takes within reason as long as you’re soldiering on and making some progress.

The Swim is generally the bit that gets most people nervous, and our course is very first timer friendly. As mentioned above, we have both rolling starts and a mass start, and there’s even a couple of spots in the swim loop where the water is shallow enough for you to be able to stand up and take a break if required to get the water out your googles, get your wetsuit back up over your shoulders and generally have a breather. The lake is only 7ish feet deep for most of the loop, and is super clear. It’s not as intimidating an many lake swims, and we’ll ensure all the sharks and Alligators are well fed beforehand 🙂
We have around 60 canoeists too, and they’re well trained in ensuring you get around safely and comfortably. We get lots of people that breastroke the whole 1,900m and have no issue with that.
For the really nervous amongst you, we will also have ‘Nervous Swimmer’ hats, which are a different colour so that the water safety team can keep an extra eye on you – Not that they don’t keep a really good eye on you anyway.
If you’re still super worried about completing distances, and have entered the June race, we can still move you back to the July race to give you another few weeks. Alternatively, right up to around 6 weeks out from each race, we can swap Solo entries to either Aquabike or Bike/Run classes, or even move you to a relay instead. We’re here to help, so please don’t fret alone, and get in touch to see what we can do.

Capacity Update 
We’ve done a bit of jiggling around with the June 113 Entry types now, so have around 100-120 slots left at that race, and around 300 left for the July race, so if you still have friends that are thinking about it, there’s still time to enter in all categories.
Entries are available at www.113events.com

Getting involved

Our races have built up and incredible reputation for having some of the best marshals in the sport, and it’s something I’m super proud of.
We have around 200 paid positions over race weekend, and although around 60% of them are regulars, the rest all come as friends and family of competitors on the day.
We’re always looking for people to join our team, so if you have friends and family coming along with you, we can offer them the best seat in the house to support from, and they can help make the race amazing for everyone out on the course. Roles vary from both Bike and Run courses, to also swim exit/transition.
It also comes with the added benefit that if you’re coming with a marshal, they get to camp and park for free around 100m from the start/finish line, which makes your day a whole load easier.
Our marshals all get paid and well looked after too, as a happy marshal is a great marshal
Our 2026 pack is :
£50 113 Events Voucher or £20 Cash
Event Team Shirt
Free food, hot/cold drinks and Ice creams
Free camping and parking near the finish
Post race team beer

All we ask is that they’re over 16, enthusiastic and know their left from their right. We’ll kit them up with everything they need, and take them through a full briefing with our course managers. If they don’t have transport, we can sort that too.
Drop me an email at graeme@113events.com

Side note : We’ve actually now had 3 weddings with couples that had first met whilst marshalling with us over the years, so not saying we’re some kind of romance hub here at 113, but if you have a single friend you’re keen to not be single any longer, our races could just what they’re looking for 🙂

Accommodation near to the lake 
Looking at the entry downloads, I can see the lion share of you are not local, so if you haven’t already, will now start to look at where you can stay
The lake we start/finish at is near Ashton Keynes, and the postcode is GL76DF.
There’s lots of AirBnB type rentals near by in Ashton Keynes, South Cerney and Somerford `Keynes, or if you’re looking for either camping or a hotel, I’d recommend the following;

Field Farm Camping is used solely for our Triathlon competitors and spectators on race weekend’s and is around 800m from the Lake.
You need to book with them in advance and their website is https://cotswoldlakescampingatfieldfarm.co.uk/

Alternatively, if you prefer a Hotel room, by far the closest and best hotel is the Devere Cotswold Waterpark hotel, which is bout 2.5 miles from the lake, and actually on our June Bike course – Their Website is https://www.devere.co.uk/cotswold-water-park-hotel
They get pretty busy in the Summer due to the Waterpark attractions, so they’re also worth booking early.

Planning a family trip on race weekend 
We race at Lake32, whose facility is about 90% of the body of water, but maybe only 25% of the Surrounding features. The rest is all owned but the beach and country park. About 25% of our run course goes through the Beach and Country park, and we also hire the transition space from them on the Sunday.
However, they have a really cool beach and loads of family type stuff there, which if you have a family coming along with you, is pretty cool to have available.
Although we can of course spectate by the areas our run course goes through, our Spectators are not allowed to use their water facilities (beach and Inflatable aquarium adventure) without Booking.
They get super busy in the Summer, so if you have family that want to come along and have lots of stuff to do during both the Saturday and the Sunday of race weekend, it’s well worth booking in early as they will certainly book out in the run up to the race weekend. Their website is https://www.cotswoldcountryparkandbeach.com/
I’m conscious this sounds very much like sales pitch, and it really isn’t. But over the year’s of us running the race there, we always get families that are supporting their loved ones that see the Beach and Country park, but can’t use it as they haven’t booked, so I’m just giving you all a heads up.

Right, that really is it for today’s newsletter. Sorry it was such a long one, and hopefully you’ve all stayed awake until this point.
We are here to help, so if you have any questions at all or there’s anything we can help with, please do get in touch
In the meantime, please enjoy this good weather we’re having this week, happy training and see you all in a few months time

Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events Team
graeme@113events.com
07595 591612