Cotswold 113 – 7th June – Competitor Newsletter #2

Hey all, I hope everyone’s well and starting to feel like race season is around the corner ?
We’re just 8 weeks out from the June 113 now, so here’s the latest competitor newsletter.
Over the next 8 weeks, you’ll start to get more and more of these from me, and although I promise not to spam you with mails all the time, I will try and drip feed in the information as and when it’s available and pertinent to the run up to the event.
In this newsletter, I’ll cover the following :

What you might have missed
Bike course update
Race information pack
Thinking about what kit to bring
Familiarisation day
Fancy parking and camping right by the start
Not feeling ready

What you might have missed 
For those of you that have entered in the last few weeks, you might have missed the Newsletter #1
In that newsletter, I covered a load of stuff about the race, how to book camping, info on local accommodation etc, so it’s well worth checking out
You can find that newsletter HERE

Bike course update
We’ve had a brand new (well, about 80% brand new) bike course planned and ready for this year’s 113, but there’s an issue 🙁
Unless, you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you will have seen that there’s currently a war going on between the US and the Iran. The Americans have been, and are still, using Fairford Airforce base as a Forward Operating Location for its Bombers to be based and Deploy from. It’s been pretty noisy down here for the last couple of months, and the roads around the base are very busy with photographers etc.
Unfortunately, our new course was to go right past Fairford base front gates and also was going to go along the road that runs Parallel with the Runway. Subsequently, and understandably, the Council will not allow us to use this for the race now, as although both roads are open, they are now increasingly stopping people from using them, and although we appear to be currently in a ceasefire period, should that situation escalate, those roads will completely close for the purpose of security.
The world has some fairly large issues right now, and our Triathlon pales into insignificance in reality.
What this means, is that we’re now basing our planning for this year’s 113 around the existing course that we’ve used for the last few years successfully, and this is what is shown on the race info pack, and agreed with the Highways, Council and Police.
However, and I only wanted to get this out in the interest of transparency, this course does go near to the base, and actually runs along the road into Marston Meysey, which is at the Western end of the runway. This road is open, and the Bases security teams have put up screens to stop the photographers /onlookers stopping along this road, and the Police are actively moving people along. Currently, it’s totally fine for us to use, and the worse that can happen is it could get exceptionally noisy for a few minutes if they start the B52’s taking off whilst you’re cycling past (The rules say you’re not allowed to draft a plane btw)
However, and we have a planned preparation for this scenario, if things really do escalate in the Middle East, and the Military intelligence teams feel there’s a legitimate threat to the base, they will close all adjacent roads, including the road we use for the existing course.
If this does happen, and I’m sure it’s exceptionally unlikely, our plan C is to roll out the July Classic Bike course, which heads west from the lake through Kemble and Malmesbury.
This sounds all very doom and gloom, and i think these are all super unlikely scenarios, but in the interest of complete transparency from our side, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop so that you all know, and we will, of course, keep everyone posted.

Race information pack 
HERE you will find a link to the race information pack
This pack contains pretty much everything you need to know about the race, but this is your pack, so if you feel there’s anything else you want included that we’ve missed, please just let me know know and I’ll update it
I’ve purposely made it in a format that doesn’t look too Triathlon like, so you can still hopefully sit at your desk at work and read it without getting in trouble. The only peace and quiet I get in my house is on the toilet, so if you’re like me and your best reading is on the throne, just print it off and put it in the bathroom, but please do take the time to read it !!

Thinking about what kit to bring
Now’s probably about the sort of time you’re thinking about what kit to bring with you for race weekend, so I wanted to give you a bit of heads up on how things are in the Cotswolds, and hopefully give you some info that will help all those kit choices.

We operate within the BTF rules for Water temperature and wetsuits. What this means, is that our June race is always within the ‘Wetsuit Optional’ range. This will be our 30th Middle Distance race between the 113 and Classic, and we’ve only ever once gone into the Non Wetsuit temp range at the July classic, and that was last year after a few weeks of 30+ deg heatwave that we had last summer. The June race water temp is always cooler, so you’ll all be well within the optional range, which means you’ll all wear wetsuits anyway, as I know that us Triathletes love the extra buoyancy.
We will provide you with a Hat, so you won’t need one of those, and you’re welcome to double up hats if you like as I’m conscious that lots of people like to do so. You must only wear your own one underneath, and our Bright Orange 113 hat must be on top.
We also have a different coloured ‘Nervous Swimmer’ hat for anyone that’s terrified about the swim, and I’ll cover more on that nearer the time in the later newsletters.
The swim course is a single lap, and lake 32 is pretty shallow and very clear. It’s largely about 6-7 foot deep for 90% of the course, and there’s a couple of shallower parts where you can stand if needs be (it’s about 4 foot deep at those points) and you’re welcome to do so if you need a quick break to get the water out your goggles or just catch your breath before continuing.
We have around 50-60 canoists and water craft safety team members, and you’ll all be very well looked after to ensure you get around safely and enjoy it.

If you’re lucky enough to have the choice between a road bike and a Triathlon/Aero/TT style bike, our course is a TT bike course all day long (even the July Classic course just incase we have to roll that one out)
The course is reasonably well shaded from the wind other than a few gaps in hedge rows, so suits a deeper section wheel or even a disc. Any bike is totally fine, and it’s only a few that have there luxury of TT bikes, but I wanted to give you a concept of what the course is like. The Tarmac is good for most of the course, but being the UK, there is a few potholes and imperfections.
I ride the courses pretty often, and for comparison on my road bike, I’m around 80kg and run a 28mm Tubeless tyre at around 70psi and find that works well. We do go out and paint any potholes in the days running ups to the race, and they’re all real easy to spot when you’re not drafting (please) and have your eyes open and can all be easily avoided

The run course is around 50% tarmac, 5% grass and the rest is a hard packed lake path. It handles the wet very well, and drains quickly, so unless we get a couple of solid weeks of rain in the days running up to the race, it’s a road shoe course.
The lakeside sections of the course offer a decent amount of shade, but there are some pretty open bits too.

Although we have changing tents in transition if you want to use them, you keep all your stuff with your bike in your spot in transition, and we’ll cover more on what to bring and what not to bring along with some newbie guidance and advice for that in later newsletters

We always suggest to bring more layers and clothing than you need into transition as you’re always far better looking at stuff you don’t need, than looking for it when you don’t have it, and it can also be pretty chilly when you first get out the lake and onto the bike first thing in the morning

Familiarisation day 
Our free of charge Course Familiarisation day for the June 113 will be on May 10th.
These are really cool days to come along and have a leisurely guided tour of the Bike and Run courses with myself and the team, and they’re a great chance to meet us, other competitors, and us to meet you guys in a relaxed environment where you can ask as many questions as you like and have a good look at what race day is going to look like.
They’re super leisurely too, and we tend to average about 12-14mph on the bike and around 12-13min miles on the run, and we’ll have a good few regrouping stops along the way, and point out all the various bits of the courses.
We only do a single lap of both Bike and Run courses (they’re 2 laps and 3 laps respectively on race day) and we ride in a  couple of groups and run in a single group.
They’ll be a chance to have a swim on the day too, and for everyone signed up to the day, I’ll send a link out for the booking into that nearer the time, as you’ll need to book and pay the lake for that bit directly. The lake guys won’t have our course marked out, but their 1,500m loop is broadly similar to ours, just a bit shorter, obviously.
Our Bike and run bits are totally free though, and we love these days as it’s a great chance for me and the team to meet you all in advance of the race weekend when you all have your race faces on and the best we get from you is a grunt 🙂
You will need two book on please as we need to get a handle on numbers, and also have a direct way to communicate with you all in advance of the day – You can book that HERE 
If you’ve got friends and family that want to come along too, they’re of course, more than welcome, but will also need to book please
Our bit of the day starts at 10am with the lap of the bike course. This normally takes around 2hours and a bit, and we’ll have a 15-20min break before heading out on the run course around 12:30-45ish, which will take around a hour and a bit. We’ll then have an ice cream in the sun at the lake cafe (hopefully I’ve not just jinxed the weather) and there’ll be more chances to ask any other questions you might have.
Nearer the time, I’ll send the swimming booking link out, (as their swim bookings only work on a rolling 7 day booking window) as well as meeting instructions, directions etc.

Fancy parking and camping right by the start
If you were possibly able to bring a marshal with you on the day, did you know you can camp and park about 100m from the start/finish of the race completely free in our marshals parking/camping field ?
We need more marshals for the race as they’re the backbone of what makes the day great, and we have around 200 paid positions on race weekend. About half of those are regulars with us, and the other half are friends and family of you guys, the competitors.
They don’t need any experience at all, as we’ll kit them up and take them through a full briefing, and we’ll also ensure they have a fun day and get really well looked after
Our marshals all get paid too, and although it’s not exactly ‘retirement on a yacht at 30yrs old’ money, they’ll get either £20 cash for their troubles or a £50 113 Events Voucher for you/them to use with us in the future, plus they’ll get to be part of a great team and have the best seats in the house to enjoy the race from.
Plus, you/they can come along to our post race beer/pizza on the afternoon after the race
If you have someone that can be on our team, please get them to drop me an email at graeme@113events.com and we’ll welcome them in with open arms.

Not feeling ready
I’m very conscious that now we’re 8 weeks out from the race, there’s going to be a fair few of you that are feeling like you’ve potentially picked up an injury and not done the training you had planned, are just not ready, or have suddenly remembered that June 7th is your Husband/Wife’s birthday etc etc.
Although we’ve now committed to numbers for the races, there’s actually quite a few bits we’ve had to splash out on that are entirely interchangeable between the June 7th 113 and July 12th Cotswold Classic Middle Distance races. Therefore, if you feel like another 5 weeks would help, we still have spots left in the July Classic, and I can very easily swap you over to that race.
The only reason I’m prompting this now, is that close to race day, I get bombarded with emails asking if there’s a chance of swapping, and although it can still be possible, as we have to make final commitment on certain things as we get closer to a race, there’s costs associated with doing so.
However, if you ask me now, we can do it completely free. The same goes for anyone that wants to move from an Individual entry to an Aqauabike or Bikerun etc.
The earlier you ask, the easier it is for me to sort. I don’t need you to justify why, so think of this as an amnesty, so just drop me an email as earlier is always better than later, when it might not be possible, or have to carry some cost

Right, that really is it from me for this newsletter

We genuinely are here to help, so if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me. You can call me any time too on 07595 591612, or drop me an email at graeme@113events.com
The next newsletter will be in around 3-4 weeks time, or sooner if any updates need getting out.

Thanks for taking the time to read my waffle and Happy Training to you all.
Cheers

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