113 Events Ltd

Triathlons based in the Cotswolds

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Cotswold113 – Coronavirus update #2

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The following email went out to all Cotswold113 Competitors today :

Cotswold113 2020 – Update

Good morning all, and I hope that everyone is keeping safe in these terrible times.
We are living in truly awful times at the moment, and all of our lives are being turned upside down.

Given the latest communications from the Government, it’s now becoming increasingly clear that the Cotswold 113 on June 7th is now not going to happen in any format, and it would irresponsible for us to expect people to be able to train well over the next 11weeks, so we have made the decision to postpone the race until the weekend of Sept 19th and 20th, when I truly hope that we have all gotten through this safely.

We did have a few other mid summer dates available, but as this is a constantly moving issue, we thought it was safer to move to an end of summer date in order to give us the best possible chance of getting something in and in some format.
As per my previous mail, we have a number of ways we can still run the race should there still be any reduced form of restrictions to social distancing in place in sept – See previous mail here : https://www.113events.com/cotswold-113-coronavirus-update-1/

This is a very tough time in the events industry, as I’m sure you can all appreciate, and whilst the chancellor of the exchequer has released some great measures to help Employed people, they’ve not helped out the outdoor leisure industry. The government has bigger issues to worry about right now, as do we all, so I can totally understand that and accept that this is just what we have. If things change and the government does start to help out the events industry, we may end up being in a different position, and I’ll keep you all updated.

In light of this and where we stand currently, we have in the last few days, sat down with our accountant and team, and worked out what we can do to help those that can’t race on the revised dates without bankrupting ourselves and it being the end of 113 forever :

Most importantly, we need to recognise those who are on the front line of fighting this disease right now, so if you are a hospital Doctor or Nurse, please contact me with a copy of your NHS id and I will issue you a full credit for your race entry. We truly appreciate the work you are doing, and it’s going to be a very tough few months for you guys, so thank you very much.

We are going to introduce a ‘Virtual 113’ that can be completed at any time over the year, and for anyone who wishes to take up this method of racing, we’ll give you a £50 credit to use with us next year when you can hopefully come and experience the 113 in full.
You will still get your goody bag, shirt and medal once you have completed, and you can do this at any time and in any format you like right up to Christmas. With our timing partner, we will build a separate page for virtual results so you can track on a leader board. I’m conscious that pools are now closed, so if you wanted to complete sooner rather than later, you could also do it as a duathlon too, and we’ll complete a separate leader board for those competitors.
These are truly unchartered times for all of us, and I’m conscious that many of you (like me) might be stuck indoors for 12weeks, so unlike normal virtual races, we can be pretty flexible with how the mileage is completed, so on a treadmill or a turbo/wattbike is just fine too if that’s what you have.
We will give competitors that want to choose that option until June 1st to Decide, and you can do so by emailing me at graeme@113events.com

Our August 2nd middle distance race (Cotswold Classic Middle Distance Tri) is still being planned to go ahead currently, and whilst that race is not full, there are still 350 places in that race that we can transfer Cotswold113 Competitors into if that date works for you better.

I have been getting many questions from competitors that took out the optional injury/illness cancellation insurance that is provided through the Entry System company that we use. The insurance company is called Bookingprotect.com and they will cover your entry fee should you or someone in your immediate family contract Coronavirus. You can see their statement on this at https://bookingprotect.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-Guidance.pdf

This is completely uncharted territory for us and the rest of the events industry, and we at 113 are absolutely trying to do our best for everyone. I know from speaking with other organisers, that they are getting a hard time from their competitors, and that’s understandable that this happens as it is a tough and frustrating time for us all. I’m truly appreciative that we’ve built up a really great bunch of regulars, and I thank you all for your patience with us whilst we try and take these steps into something we really don’t understand how badly and for how long it’s going to effect us all.
Like most other organisers, any cancellation insurances that some of us take out, do not cover global pandemics, and for most medium to large sized races, a large percentage of the entry fee is spent several months before the race, so we’re all facing a very uncertain future, and I’m afraid this will be a big hit for the triathlon industry as it’ll be the end of many of very good non commercial race 🙁

Ultimately, racing is really important, but at times like this, the health of us all and of all our families is the most important thing here, so I truly hope that everyone gets through this in good health and that their families do also.

As plans pan out, and we get more info from the British Government and the Sports Governing bodies, I will of course keep everyone updated

I am very likely to be stuck at home in Isolation for the next 12 weeks (low immune system due to current medication – long story that I won’t bore you all with), so I’ll have all the time in the world to answer any questions or just talk triathlon, so please give me a call or drop me an email if there’s anything I can help with or any questions I can answer

Please keep safe everybody, and keep your families close and and loved

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

Cotswold Classic – Coronavirus Update #1

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The following email went out to all Cotswold Classic 2020 competitors tonight:

Cotswold Classic – August 2nd 2020

Good evening all, I hope everyone’s keeping well in these testing times ?
Although we’re nearly 5 months away from this year’s race, I just wanted to get an email out to you all to let you know what’s happening at this end, and what we’re doing to plan this year out in these difficult times
Firstly, and most importantly, we’re still doing all our preparation around the race going ahead as planned on August 2nd.
As many of you will know, we hold two middle distance races each summer, and although I’m very much hoping the 2nd race in August is going to go ahead unaffected, it’s look increasing likely that the June 7th Cotswold 113 will be impacted in some way.
Just to keep you all in the loop, this is the email that I sent out to all June Cotswold113 Competitors last night:
https://www.113events.com/cotswold-113-coronavirus-update-1/
We are still very much working on the basis of the August race going ahead as planned and in the grand fashion that you all love and deserve. However, should this situation escalate for many months to come, I’d urge that you read the above email as it outlines the changes that we can apply to the August race, and would request your thoughts and feedback on these suggestions. After all, this race is very much your race, and you guys are the most important part of the race itself.

The Current Coronavirus outbreak is unchartered territory for the events industry as a whole, and we are, of course, working closely with both the Governing Bodies, NHS and Government Guidelines. It’s a constantly evolving process, and the goal posts are moving on an almost daily basis.
Today, the BTF have requested that all races due to be held during March and April are either cancelled or rescheduled.

Triathlon is important to us all, but ultimately, your safety and that of your families, our marshals and supporters is the most important thing here by far, and we appreciate that this is a difficult and confusing time for all.

I will keep everyone posted as things develop, but please can I urge you all to keep safe, keep your friends and family close and we’ll look forward to seeing you all on the other side once this has all blown over and we’re back to moaning about Brexit and summer rain showers.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me

Thanks and please stay safe

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

Cotswold 113 – Coronavirus Update #1

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The following email went out to all Cotswold 113 Competitors today:

Cotswold113 – Coronavirus update

Good evening all.

I appreciate everyone has bigger issues at the moment, but we are naturally getting a lot of emails of concern about our 2 events, so in the interest of transparency and honesty, I wanted to bring you all up to speed on where we are at this point in time and what we are currently planning as a contingency for the June 7th Cotswold 113 (and potentially August 2nd Cotswold Classic too)

If you have seen today’s Government conference update with Boris Johnson and his Chief Medical Officers; like me, you will feel that the Cotswold113 running on June 7th in a traditional format is starting to look increasingly unlikely.
We, of course, will continue to to plan around it happening on June 7th, but we are putting together some contingency plans just in case, so I wanted to make you all aware of what we are planning, and as you all are just as much a part of this race as us, call on you all collectively to let us know if you have any feedback.

This is completely unchartered territory for the us and the Nation as a whole, so we are currently trying to make the best of a bad situation and hope than in the interest of life still maintaining some level of normality where possible, us as Triathletes can still get to race this year in some format, and at some point.

Firstly, let’s assume for a minute that our current state continues for 2.5 months and that we’re on public event lockdown still in June ;  We are, this week, having meetings with the Lake Owners, the Councils, Police and highways etc etc about a revised date towards the end of the summer. We will hope to have the date of that option finalised within the next week, and is very likely to be late August or Sept. For that option, we will publish the revised date as soon as we have it, plus a timescale in which we can realistically confirm that we are moving to the new date or not, so as to give everyone time to make arrangements etc. I expect that we can make a judgment on whether or not things are looking up for June by the end of April at the very latest.

Secondly, let’s assume that things have quietened down in June, but we are still not out the woods entirely in terms of public gatherings or that public confidence in gatherings are still low. We are considering a few options for a race in this instance:
1) We can run the race over two days, and separate the waves by a larger time frame to reduce social contact to almost zero if desired. Registration would happen by post, briefings would happen by email/youtube and starts would become rolling so as to reduce the density of numbers gathered at the swim start. We would rethink Aid stations and the finish area would be adjusted to finish and go (most people do this anyway)
2) Along with the above, I totally understand that some people would still not want to attend the race day and be around strangers, so for these competitors, we would introduce a ‘Virtual race’ option. This would allow competitors to complete the distances on their own or with friends from their club, and we could then post you your number/goody bag/ shirt etc in advance, and your medal once you have completed the distances. Realistically, this could be done in your own time as and when you please, and we would not limit the date for completion and could send the medal out as and when you’re finished, even if it’s at Christmas. For competitors that choose to take a virtual option, we could then send them a discount code to use with us next year when hopefully Coronavirus is a distant memory and life has returned to normal (fingers crossed) so they can come and experience the 113 atmosphere in person.
If people wanted to come to the lake we race at to do this, it’s open for Swimming 7 days per week in the summer before 10am, and I’m sure we can come to an arrangement with the lake guys to display swim/bike/run maps or even leave a finish line erected for a short period.
The two options above could also roll to the revised date if required.

I will, of course, keep everyone posted as and when things change, and we are in constant communication with both the Governing bodies of our sport and the government guidelines and regulations surrounding outdoor sports events.

As you will all have seen, the situation regarding advice from the Government is pretty fluid right now, and is changing daily, but we are keeping on top of it as much as we can and will adjust as we go.

I truly appreciate that we have built a following of loyal and great competitors over the years, and want to thank everyone for baring with us in these difficult times.

For a moment, I’d like to explain a little about the commotion this is causing within the triathlon industry as a whole, as I’ve seen that most the other UK race organisers are being very tight lipped about what’s happening with their events, and other than the one large global player, I’ve not seen any communication from the UK’s other medium/large sized races to explain what they’re doing about the current situation.
Some events, like ours, take out very expensive cancellation policies to cover the unknown causing races to stop. However, as this has now reached global Pandemic classification, these insurance companies are washing their hands of any claims via the small print (typically, insurance covers things like weather, floods and road closures due to watermains bursting etc) . I can’t speak for the other minority of organisers that also take out these policies, but from my understanding from the ones I do speak with, this is the same for all of us 🙁
I appreciate that many of you will have entered (in some cases several) other races this year, so please can I ask that you are patient with the other organisers as they, like us, will be taking brand new baby steps into a situation they have never faced before and most likely not planned for. Many are big businesses, but some, like us, are just a husband and wife putting on races that we hope people love.
Unfortunately, this will be the end of many a very good race in the UK Triathlon calendar, so please be patient when dealing with the other organisers as they will be having as tough a time to work out a plan as we are.

Ultimately, the Corona Virus is hitting our country hard, and I truly wish good health to all our competitors past and present as well as their friends and families. Triathlon is important to us all, but life and our health is far more important, so please keep safe, and keep your loved ones close and safe also.

I appreciate that this does not answer some of the questions we are getting on a daily basis, but I just wanted to be totally honest with everyone and let them know what we are hoping to do in terms of racing this year and the options that we are considering for you all.

Please feel free to call or email me should you have any concerns or questions

Thanks, and please stay safe.

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

Cotswold 113 2020 – March Newsletter

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The following email went out to all Cotswold 113 2020 Competitors today

Cotswold 113 – 7th June 2020

Good afternoon all, I hope this email finds everyone well ?
We’re just under 3 months out from the race, so I wanted to drop you all a quick email to keep you up to date in the run up to the event.
I’ll keep this one fairly brief, but in this mail I’ll cover the following :

Coronavirus Update
Marshalling at the 113
Familiarisation day

Coronavirus Update
Unless you’ve been living under the rock for the last few weeks, you will have no doubt seen that the Coronavirus (or COVID-19 to give it it’s proper name) has become a big issue for us all.
We, of course, take the safety of our competitors, team/marshals and spectators very seriously, and would not want to expose them to any unnecessary risk. We are currently (and will continue to do so) monitoring the government guidelines for events such as ours, and are in communication with the governing bodies for our sport on how best to manage any changes or regulations that may apply.
As it stands currently, the race is still set to continue as planned, but I will of course keep everyone updated if anything changes.
I have had perhaps 100 emails over the last week from understandably nervous competitors, but wanted to get a broader statement out about where we currently stand.
In the meantime, please assume everything remains unchanged, eat healthily, stay hydrated, wash your hands a lot and stop buying all the toilet roll in my local Asda 🙂

Marshalling at the 113 (or Cotswold Classic on August 2nd)
Our races have built up a great reputation for having some of the best marshals in the sport, and it’s something we’re very proud of and want to maintain.
Around 50% of our marshals come from a local pool of repeat offenders, but the rest come from friends, family, team mates and colleagues of our competitors. If you have people coming along with you that could get involved, please give them a nudge.
All our marshals get paid too, and you can choose from either £20 cash or a £40 113 Events Voucher to use with us on a future race. You’ll also get a team technical shirt, and be kept in hot food, drinks, ice creams and anything else you might need throughout the day.
You don’t need any experience at all, and all we ask is that you’re over 16 and know your left from your right. We’ll take you through a full briefing and partner you all up with someone with more experience if you’re brand new to marshalling.
We can’t, unfortunately, ’employ’ anyone under 16, but if you have family with an over 16 year old that wants to marshal, we have team shirts down to small child size and they can of course take advantage of the free ice creams and burgers.
If you have anyone that’s interested, please get them to drop me an email at graeme@113events.com
We effectively re-run the June 113 on August 2nd, so if you fancy being part of the team still, but are racing in June, we’d love you along on the team in August, so you can see the race from the other side.

Familiarisation day – 24th May 
On the 24th of May, we’ll be holding our free of charge familiarisation day for all competitors.
This is a great way to see the course in a relaxed environment, and also to meet the team and other competitors too.
We’ll have a booking system up and running soon, and I’ll send an email at a later date with more info on the day and links to book, but in the meantime, please get the date in your diary.
The emphasis on the day is leisurely, so all speeds and abilities are welcome and we’ll guide you around a single lap of the Swim (1 lap = 1900m), 1 lap of the bike (1 lap =  28miles) and 1 lap of the run (1 Lap = 4.35 miles)
It’s a fun day, and our guidance is completely free. The only thing you’ll need to pay for is if you want to Swim, the lake guys will ask you for £7 on the gate for day membership.
I’ll aim to have the booking system up and running in the next couple of weeks – Booking in all sounds very formal, but it’s really just to get an idea of numbers and to have a way of communicated with all attendees in the run up to the day.

Right, that’s it from me for today.
If you get any questions or there’s anything we can help with, please just ask as it’s what we’re here for
I’ll get another email out soon with links to the Familiarisation day, and, of course, any updates over how the Corona Virus may effect us as we take ongoing advice and guidance from the Government and Governing bodies.

Thanks and happy training

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

Cotswold 113 – January 2020 Newsletter

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The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold113 2020 Competitors today :

Cotswold113 – June 7th 2020

Good morning all, I hope this email finds you all well ?
Firstly, thank you for entering the Cotswold 113 for this year.
Over the next few months, I’ll be sending you various emails with bits of info in the run up to the race, but to get things started, I wanted to send you all a welcome email and let you know what’s going to be coming up in the run up to the big day on June 7th.
Some of my mails can tend to ramble on a bit, so I’ll apologies in advance now, and try and keep this one fairly short and sweet.
In this mail, I’ll cover the following :

Basic race weekend overview
Familiarisation day
Race to Race transfers/deferals policy
Waves and numbers
Interacting with us (me)

Basic Race weekend overview
Our race weekend starts on Saturday the 6th June with registration at the lake between 12:00 and 17:00. We also run a couple of informal briefings on the Saturday afternoon where we go through the race in detail from arriving at the car park to crossing the finish line. Don’t worry if you can’t get to registration on the Saturday, as we can always arrange for someone to register on your behalf, or if you’re passing Swindon on the M4 during race week, we tend to have the packs ready at our house by around Wednesday 3rd PM, so you’re welcome to pop by and register in advance. We don’t always have any biscuits left, but the kettle is always on.
We rent the timing chips in, so don’t have them further in advance of that, and we can’t post them out I’m afraid, as the royal mail uses magnets which play havoc with the chip internals.
At registration you’ll get your timing chip, race number, swim hat, shirt and goody bag.
All our racking is done on the Sunday morning, and transition opens at 04:00.
The race then starts at 06:00 and goes off in 6 waves at 10 minute intervals (more on the waves later)
Although we have to publish an ‘official’ cut off of 7.5hours from the start of the last wave, in actual fact, we’re pretty relaxed with it. Our take is that as long as you’ve not stopped at a pub on the bike course for a 2 hour roast dinner, and are still soldiering on, within reason we’ll keep the finish line open for as long as it takes for you to get there, and you’ll still get an official finish time and medal.
We don’t have specific Swim, bike and run cut offs.
We have car parking at the lake for all competitors and a number of spectators, but please bear in mind that it is a field, so if you happen to be lucky enough to drive a Ferrari, you might want to bring one of your other cars that weekend.
As far as fields go, it’s a pretty decent one, but it is still a field. The car park field is a 5ish minute walk from Transition.
If you like camping before a race, there’s a campsite next door to the lake, and you can book with those guys at http://www.cotswoldlakescamping.co.uk
A full race info pack PDF will be out mid February, and I’ll email a link out to it once it’s done.
To give you an idea of the event, there’s a cool video of the race from a couple of years ago here : https://youtu.be/QJO_kFb-KZs

Familiarisation day
Around 4-6weeks out from the race, we hold a familiarisation day down at the lake, where we can take you for a guided lap of the swim course, and a single lap of the bike and run courses (On race day it’s 1 lap Swim, 2 lap bike and 3 lap run)
The bike and run are completely free of charge, but if you wanted to swim, the lake owners will charge you a £7 guest membership fee on the gate.
Our team will guide the laps, and it’s a great chance to see the course and to meet our guys to ask any questions you might have. It’s also a nice chance for us to meet you all in a more informal environment as over race weekend, we can barely get a grunt from any of you as you’ll all invariably have your race faces on.
The focus on the day will be purely to familiarise yourselves with the course, and the pace will be super leisurely, so it’ll be fine for all abilities.
The date for this day will be fixed in the next few weeks, and I’ll email it out as soon as we have it (We have to wait until the lakes own fixtures for the year are fixed, and work around those)

Race to Race transfers/deferrals 
I’m conscious that many of you will have perhaps had a break over Christmas from training, and like me, might have not quite got back to it yet. Also, that some of you might be carrying injuries that you’re hoping will clear up by June, but aren’t 100% sure yet.
We effectively rerun the June 113 on August 2nd under the name Cotswold Classic Middle Distance Tri, and that race is not yet full. Therefore, if you feel like another 8 weeks might help you recover from any injuries, or give you a bit more time to get yourself ready to race, we can transfer you from the June race to the August race for free.
The reason I’m telling you this now, is based on previous year’s experience with our races, people tend to leave it too late to decide they can’t race, and once the August race fills up, it’s not always possible to transfer or try and move things around to get people to race, so now’s your chance for an easy training extension.
The August race tends to fill up much later than the June race, so based on previous years, will probably be full by around May. By that time, we will have had to fix and freeze the June race, so if there are still spaces for the Aug race, swapping your entry to then will, unfortunately, carry some cost implications, so now’s your chance to do it for free if you feel that’d help.

Waves and Numbers
Around 6-7wks prior to the June 113, we fix and freeze the start list. At that point, I will send you all an email asking if you want to choose a specific wave and/or a race number (or group of numbers to be racked with your mates)
Until the race is frozen, I don’t have the start list in a spreadsheet format, so can’t allocate waves and numbers to anyone yet. Plus, in the interest of fairness, it will work on a first come first served basis following the release of that email.
Typically, we can accommodate 99.9% of wave requests, but some of the popular numbers will go quickly, so you’ll need to act fast (numbers 13 and 69 always seem to be the most popular for some reason)
Alternatively, if you just want all your club or mates to be racked together in transition (our racking works numerically) and in the same wave, we can sort that in a series of numbers further up the sequence
Anyway, once it’s fixed Mid April, I’ll email everyone out with full instructions on how to request, but please don’t ask in advance as I won’t be able to allocate any out yet.

Interacting with us
We often get emails starting with ‘this is a really silly question’ or ‘Sorry to trouble you’, but please please don’t ever feel like you’re asking what might seem a stupid question or feel like you’re pestering us, as it’s exactly what I’m here for.
We totally get that many of you will be taking this race on as your first ever attempt at the distance, or in some cases, your first ever triathlon, so please please please, just ask us any questions you might have as Im conscious that it’s a big step up in distance, and triathlon can seem a complicated sport at times.
All of us at 113 have raced at some point or still do, and we’ve all been through the first step into longer distance, so know exactly how daunting it is and confusing all the conflicting info out there can be
You can either reply to this email or give me a call any time on my number at the bottom of this mail

Anyway, that’s it for my rambling for today. I hope you’re all still awake and as keen for the weather to improve as I am.

As mentioned above, we’re here to help, so please ask if you get any questions or there’s anything else we can help with

Cheers and happy training

Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
Tel 07595 591612
Email graeme@113events.com

2020 races are now go….

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The following email went out to all our newsletter subscribers tonight

2020 races are now go….

Good evening all
Firstly, thanks for either racing or marshalling with us in the past, or subscribing to our newsletters
Although it seems like the summer of 2019 is still in full swing, I wanted to drop you all a quick email to let you know we’ve now fixed the dates for the 2020 races and when entries will open for them both :

Cotswold 113 Middle Distance Triathlon – Sunday June 7th 2020
Cotswold Classic Middle Distance Triathlon – Sunday August 2nd 2020

Online entry will open for both races online at 00:01 on Saturday August the 24th at www.113events.com and both races have early bird discounts for the first 150 sign ups.

To give you all a heads up on how quickly they fill, the 2019 June 113 was full by early October 18, and the August Classic was full by early Spring this year, and both races are filling quicker every year. Please book early to avoid disappointment, as once they’re full, they’re full

We hope to see many of you racing with us again next year

Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
graeme@113events.com

Cotswold Classic 19 – Post race email

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The following post race mail went out to all Cotswold Classic 2019 Competitors this morning:

Cotswold Classic Post race email

Good morning all, I hope everyone’s on the road to recovery from yesterday’s racing, and got a decent nights sleep last night ?
Firstly, and most importantly, I just wanted to say thanks for everyone that came racing with us yesterday. The race is only as good as the competitors that line up, and you were all an awesome bunch, so thank you.
In this email, I’ll cover the following :

How fast you went and how you looked doing it
Feedback request
Fancy racing with us again this year
Next year’s races

How fast you went and how you looked doing it
I get this is probably the only bit you’re interested in, so I’ll do this bit first
You can find yesterday’s results at :

Results


We had Charles Whitton Photography there yesterday, and in a couple of days when he’s sorted through all the pics, you will be able to find them at :
https://www.charleswhittonphotography.com/cotswold-classic-tri-4819
We have prepaid a couple of pics for each of you, which will show under the free downloads section, and he’ll them have plenty more you can choose from

Feedback request
Later this week, we’ll have a team debrief on the weekend, and pick through every single element in some detail to see what worked and what didn’t. However, from our side, we only see one angle of the race, so we rely on you all, as the people that experience the day from the competitor side, to feedback to us what you think worked well and you liked, or what you think can be improved on. With that in mind, I would love some feedback from you all please, as it’s making these changes and tweaks every year that helps us keep moving in an upwards path in trying to provide a great Middle Distance race for you all.
Don’t worry about hurting our feelings, we want you to nit pick and let us know anything you think we weren’t great at so we’ll see what we can change, and at the same time, let us know what you enjoyed or liked about the day, and we’ll see what we can do more of ?
You feedback is really important to us, and very much appreciated

Fancy racing with us again this year
Did you know the 113 team also organise the Nationwide Building Society Swindon Half Marathon, which is on Sept 22nd this year and this is going to be its last year ?.
It has all the touches of our Triathlons, but without getting wet or needing a bike, and on a flat and fast course with 100% closed roads.
Entries are still open at www.newswindonhalf.co.uk

2020 Triathlon Dates
We are provisionally working on June 7th and August 2nd for our Cotswold113 and Cotswold Classic Triathlons next year.
These dates will be fixed in the next couple of weeks, and entries will open at www.113events.com on Sept 1st

Right, that’s it from me for newsletters
We’ll be back down the lake today to get the clear up and storage of everything underway, so if you’re still in the area and have anything you’ve left behind, today’s the best day to do it.
I’m back to my day job for a couple of days this week after that, although I’m still here to help if there’s anything you need from us
Thanks again for choosing to race with us this year, and thanks for all being one of the best groups of competitors we’ve had at a race so far (And bringing us good racing weather too)

Cheers and happy recovery

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

Obligatory post race team beer pic from last night :

Cotswold classic 2019 – pre race mail Vol3

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The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic 2019 competitors tonight :

59hours to go….

Good evening all
This is the last instalment of our pre race emails, so we hope you’re all feeling good and ready for racing on Sunday
In this final mail, I’m going to cover the following :

Forecast, course condition and preparation
Water Temperature
Race weekend Supplies and Support
Fitting your timing chip
Results and tracker

Forecast, course condition and preparation
If you’re anything like me, you’ll be checking 5 different weather apps, and only believing the best one.
The BBC are showing that we’re going to have a largely dry day with little wind:

However, it does look like we’re likely to get some rain on Saturday evening.
With this in mind, it’s worth reminding you all that the transition area is on grass, and not only is it likely to be wet with overnight dew, but there’s a chance that i could be wet with rain.
The BTF rules, and our rules, don’t allow plastic boxes in transition, so what I would recommend to you all is that you bring a large plastic bag (Bin bag, large shopping bag etc) to lay your stuff on top of, or if it looks like it might rain, keep your stuff in so it keeps dry. Having raced on a wet day myself and not used this system, I can tell you from quite bitter experience, that coming in from the bike and having to pour the water out your run shoes before taking on a half marathon is really not a massive amount of fun.
I went out yesterday and marked all the potholes we could find on the bike course with Neon Pink Paint as below, from which you will note the reason I organise events and not anything that involves Art 🙂

The bike course, on the whole, is in quite decent condition compared to most of the UK roads, but there are a couple of spots of note where you really need to keep your eyes open. They are in Kempsford at around mile 12 and about half a mile later at mile 12.5. Both sections are literally only 20-30 foot long, but are littered with small potholes or imperfections (and a lot of pink paint now), so please just slow down for those short sections and navigate your way through. I appreciate we all ride on British roads, so are well used to poor roads and potholes, but I just wanted to make everyone aware of these sections so it doesn’t ruin anyones day. Like you would on any UK ride, just keep your eyes pealed incase I’ve missed any.
Ultimately, you, as competitors, are responsible for fixing your own mechanical issues on course, but in the case of an emergency, we will have 3 motorcycle support riders, who will have some spare tubes and basic kit with them. Please don’t rely on them though, as they could be some time to get to you if they’re helping out somewhere else on the course.
We have a Bike Mechanic on site Saturday to do some last minute check overs too, which I’ll cover later in this email

Water Temperature
Although the forecast for this week has been for cloud and rain, it’s actually been pretty hot down the lake all week (as the colour of my forehead will prove), so the water temperature is starting to creep up again – Tonight, it was 22.8deg.
We’re not out the woods yet when it comes to wetsuits or not, so please ensure you bring kit for both options with you
Although we have to make the ‘official call’ at 5am Sunday morning, We will have a very good idea of how it’s looking when I measure it 5am on Saturday morning, and we will show that in registration, and I’m still pretty confident that we’ll be in the ‘Wetsuit optional’ range, but just in case bring your alternative options for swimming without.
If you’re unsure of the rules and regulations around a non wetsuit swim, please see my email last week with info :
https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic-2019-pre-race-email/
You’ll have to excuse the fact fact that my spellcheck changed ‘Buoyancy shorts’ to ‘Bouncy shorts’, but I actually prefer the latter.
Also, if it is a non wetsuit swim (I still don’t think it will be), for clarification, I have spoken with the BTF to confirm the rule this week, and you are not allowed to wear a swim skin, or anything on your legs below the knees or on your arms below the elbows, and anything that contains neoprene (ie ‘Bouncy’ shorts) are also banned, sorry

Raceweek Supplies and Support
We will have Joe from Veloworks with us all weekend, who is a super good bike mechanic, and is offering a pre race check over or any repairs you might need doing before the race – He’s also at the bike course Aid station during the race incase you have a problem too big for the moto support guys
You can book slots with Joe on Saturday for any of his bike services through service@veloworks.co.uk or check his website on the below image:

We will also have Tim and his team from Speedhub Triathlon shop, who will have all the last minute stuff you need, and some really cool stuff that you probably don’t need, but almost certainly want.
If you want to preorder any stuff before the weekend, drop him a mail at speedhubuk@icloud.com
Or visit his site on the below image

Fitting your timing chip
There has become a recent trend that we’ve seen of people that are not fitting their timing chips to the chip strap properly, which can result in a lost chip and a whole load of hassle for our timing guys to go back through hours of camera footage to make sure you that all get the right times.
With that in mind, our timing Supplier DBMAX have provided us with a nice video on how to do it properly :
https://youtu.be/zdlquSMoxwc
When you fit your timing chip strap to your left ankle, you must wear either below or under your wetsuit, and please be careful not to pull it off in transition when you pull your wetsuit down from your legs.

Results and tracker
DBmax will also be providing all our timing for the weekend, and have a live update system for our results
It’s not a tracker as such, in that you can’t see exact location, but it does update ‘live’ within seconds of the time you get out the water, go into transition, leave transition, complete bike lap 1 etc etc, so will give your spectators/fan club/cheering squad a good idea of when to expect you and where.
You can find it on our results page at https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic/results/

Right, that’s it from me now and this is the last email you’ll get from me before the weekend (Unless I’ve forgotten something?), so we look forward to seeing you all in registration on Saturday afternoon, and hope you’re not getting too stressed about getting kit ready for Sunday

I’ll be picking my emails up tomorrow night as I’ll be at the lake all day, so if you need anything from me or there’s anything I can help with, please just call me – It’s what I’m here for

Lastly, and probably most importantly, you’re all racing to have fun, so don’t forget that part as enjoying it is the most important part of the day, and exactly what myself and my team are here to help you achieve.

Cheers

Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
tel 07595 591612
Email graeme@113events.com

Cotswold Classic 2019 – Pre race mail Vol2

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The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic 2019 Competitors tonight:

Race week…..

Evening all, I hope everyone’s well and getting ready for this Sunday’s race ?
In this instalment* of the pre race info mails, I’ll cover the following :

Water temperature
Planning your weekend
General Rules and regulations
Our rules and regulations

*You can find all previous instalments of competitor newsletters at www.113events.com/news

Water Temperature
I’ll get this up first, as I’m well aware that this is all most of you care about 🙂
I was at the lake this morning, and the water temperature was 21.2deg, which is comfortably inside the ‘Wetsuit Optional’ range for racing. The forecast for this week is not anything like last week, so I’m not expecting it to go up towards the ‘No Wetsuit’ range by Sunday. We will, of course, have to make a final call on this on Sunday morning, but I’m very confident that if you want to wear your wetsuit, you can do so.

Planning your weekend
Firstly, and most importantly, Parking
We use a field from a local farmer for Parking on both Saturday and Sunday, which is about 400m from the race Registration and Sunday’s start line

There is a charge for the Car parking, which is £2 Saturday and £5 Sunday payable in cash only.
On Saturday, please can you buy Sunday’s ticket as it’ll save a lot of time on Sunday morning if everyone has already payed and displays their ticket on the dash. You can buy Sunday’s ticket either when you park on Saturday, or from the registration tent.
When you arrive Sunday morning, please allow yourself plenty of extra time to get parked (realistically, a good 20mins or so plus to get through the gate) as being a field, it has one entrance in, and it takes some time to get 800 cars all through and parked up.
When you do park in the field, please park snuggly up to the car next to you as we’ll very quickly run out of parking spaces if people start parking at 45deg angles or 6 foot away from the car next to you
The car park will take all competitors and a number of spectators, but only if you all park sensibly.
The parking fee goes to a local farmer, who does, in fairness to him, donate a chunk of it to a local charity (last year was Wilts Air Ambulance)

On Saturday afternoon, registration is between 12:00 and 17:00, and we will run a couple of briefings at 13:30 and 16:00
These are not compulsory, but are good to attend as we’ll talk through the race in every detail and answer any questions you might have. We’ll try and make it entertaining, as I’m conscious I’m pretty boring when I talk, and the team always give me grief for this. It takes about 45mins, and will be by the swim exit about 50m away from the registration tent.
If it’s raining on Saturday, which I hope it won’t be, bring a rain coat as the briefing is outside.

On Sunday morning, as mentioned above, please leave yourself plenty of time to get parked (the carpark opens at 4am), and once you arrive at transition, you will need to be wearing your helmet (the BTF ref needs to check it actually fits you) and have your bike sticker on your bike. You’ll get the bike sticker in your pack, and it doesn’t matter where on your bike you put it as we only use it when it comes to the end of the day, and you come to pick your bike up, as we’ll check to make sure it matches your bib number – We don’t use helmet stickers or body marking of numbers.
There is a block of 30 pre race porta-loos around 150m walk from the start line. The walk to them is on a gravelly surface, so I’d suggest you bring some old trainers, flip flops, slippers etc to wear between transition to the toilet, and then toilet to the start line. You can then leave your footwear by the swim entrance, and collect them up after the race, or if you don’t want them back, we’ll skip them on Monday.
The reason we don’t have these toilets anywhere near the start line or transition, is the smell of these on a warm day is less than fresh, so we don’t want them anywhere near where people will congregate as the start area is also the red carpet for the race finish.
We will aim to have everyone out of transition for 06:00 when the first wave goes off in the water, so pease allow enough time to arrive, get parked and get set up and out of transition for 06:00 even if you’re in the last wave as we can’t have people racking their bikes whilst the race is going on. We have to be strict on this, so please don’t turn up at 06:15 and expect to be able to rack your bike, as you won’t be allowed in.
The racking ends are marked with the numbers and each position has a sticker with your name on it, so you should be able to find your spot easily enough, but just ask the transition team if you’re not sure.
We don’t run a rack per wave, as we like that we’re able to offer people to choose their own waves and numbers as they wish (as over 800 of you have for this race), but the downside of this is that transition is mixed up with people in all sorts of waves and numbers, so it definitely has to be clear well before the first swimmer comes in.
There’s a couple of porta-loo’s in transition, but these will be closed pre race and only open once the race starts for anyone that needs the loo in T1 or T2

General rules and regulations.
Our race is run in accordance with the British Triathlon regulations and is a non drafting race.
Please excuse me whilst I go into rant mode now, as I’m not normally like this, however :
I have become aware that our races seem to have a reputation within some clubs and circles that you can get away with drafting, and for 2019, this is something we’re absolutely going to stamp out.
We have 5 motorcycle draft busters on the course and a number of my team in various locations, and they will not be taking any prisoners. At our June race, we issued 54 drafting penalties, and DQ’d 8 people, and this year, the BTF are going to be making examples of people to try and rid our sport of this issue.
We don’t have Kona slots, or prize purses, and if you’re drafting, you are only cheating yourself, so why do it.
The BTF rules are available here : https://www.britishtriathlon.org/britain/documents/events/competition-rules/british-triathlon-competition-rules-2019.pdf and we will have a poster up in registration, so please do not say we didn’t warn you.
The Ref’s will, of course, apply a certain amount of common sense to how they issue these penalties and manage the rules, but if you are obviously trying to gain an advantage and cheat yourself or your mates into a fast bike split, you will be penalised or DQ’d, so please do it at someone else’s race, and not ours.
I know that 99.9% of you all are very fair racers, and like me, hate drafting, but there is a minority that are ruining our sport, and they will be made examples of on Sunday if they try and cheat.
Right, rant over, sorry

Our rules and regulations
These are actually fairly normal rules, but things we are strict on due to the nature of the area.
We’re extremely lucky to be able to race in such a beautiful part of the country, but as with all areas of this type, littering is a big issue (not just with triathletes and cyclists, but on the whole)
There are 80ish marshals on the bike course, and they all have bin bags. There are also bins at and after the aid stations.
You don’t need to stop and put your litter in the bins or in the marshals bin bags, but please at least drop it near it or them so we can collect it all up later. The local area council put high priority on littering, and like drafting, it’s a pet hate of mine. If anyone is seen intentionally littering, it’s an instant DQ without exception and your race number will be removed from you and it’ll be the end of your day. One reported case of littering at our event could see our permit to race in the area pulled for good, so we will be very strict on this as, like drafting, there’s no excuse for it.
The other rule we have that we are very strict on is one of courtesy. The bike course goes through a few local villages, and us lot as triathletes, tend to forget that 8am on a Sunday morning is not a normal time to be up, even though you would all have been up for several hours and it will probably feel more like lunch time to you. With that in mind, please keep the noise down as you go through residential areas on the bike, as cyclists do tend to not realise how loud they’re shouting to each other on the go, and not everyone wants to be up at silly o’clock. This also goes out to your spectators if you’re bringing along a fan clubs, and as much as we love groups of spectators with cow bells and noise, please ask them not to do it in a residential area.
You will see very few cars on the road on a Sunday morning, but if you do, please be courteous to them. Not every driver is confident to drive around bikes and occasionally get very nervous, so please don’t swamp cars or undertake them, or if someone reverses out their drive, please don’t be tempted to hurl abuse at them as they’ve cost you 2 seconds more on your bike split.
When you go through the village of Castle Eaton (about 17 miles into the lap), you will be making 3x 90deg sharp corners in a row. You will absolutely need to remain on the correct side of the road for these and we can not have people cutting corners or running wide into any oncoming traffic. The BTF rules say that you must ride on the correct side of the road and follow the highway code, and you will be DQ’d if you attempt to cut a corner. Also, please be realistic about your speed through these sharp corners as going in to a sharp left hander too fast and running wide onto the wrong side of the road on exit is also a DQ offence. Castle Eaton is an area where we really need to keep residential relationships up (as we do in all of the villages we pass), so please be courteous as you ride though there and keep your eyes and ears open. Before Castle Eaton, you will see two large 113 Red signs that say “Respect the area’ and we expect you to do just that, so please be on your best behaviour on the whole course, but especially through Castle Eaton.

Another 113 Specific rule is for the bike course aid station, and the speed at which you can go through it to collect drinks.
At the bike station, we have 750ml bottles of Water/High 5 as well as Gels and half cut bananas. It is at around 23/51 miles into the course (bike course is two laps) and is on a slight downhill. You don’t need to slow down to walking pace, but please don’t try and go through there at 30mph and expect to be able to grab a bottle on the go as it’s not safe for either you or the Aid station team. Just before the Aid station is a bottle drop area, so you can chuck your old bottles and grab a new one.
As the Station is quite a long way into the course, I’d strongly suggest that you load your bike up with a bottle or two of your own before you head out on it. You can discard that bottle at the bottle drop just before the station, and we’ll gather them up into a large pile back at the finish of the race, and you can rummage through the wasps and sticky mess to retrieve it if you so wish.
Any bottles that are not collected later on race day get donated to a local charity that has links with Dyson, who put all the bottles through a large dishwasher and donate them to local kids clubs and teams, so please don’t worry that we’re creating a large plastic environmental waste footprint.

Right, that’s it from me for tonight. There will be one final email coming out to you towards the end of this week with course condition updates, links to results and trackers and then weather etc.
In the meantime, I’m here to help, so please get in touch if there’s anything I can help with this week. I’ll be at the lake all day for the remainder of the week, so only really pick my emails up in the evening. If you need anything more urgently than that, please just ring me on 07595 591612

We look forward to seeing you all this weekend, so have a great taper week and see you all Saturday for registration

Thanks

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

Cotswold Classic 2019 – Pre race email

By

The following email went out to all competitors of the Cotswold Classic 2019 tonight:

About a week and a half to go…..

Good evening all
I hope this email finds everyone well ?
We’re fast approaching race day, so in the first of a series of pre race emails, I wanted to get some info out to everyone so you can be well and truly ready by next weekend for the race on August 4th.
I’ll try not to waffle on too much in this one as I’m conscious you’re all either cooking at home or at work in this recent burst of heat we’ve had.

In this email, I’ll cover the following :

Race info pack
Start list
Registration
Water temperature

Race info pack
I can still see that only around 75% of you have actually downloaded the race info pack now, so I’m assuming that around 280 of you are so confident that you know what you’re doing that you’re not going to bother to read it ?
If you are one of those uber confident people who think the instructions are for someone else, please can I urge you to take 5mins out your day to download and digest the race pack as it might throw up something you weren’t expecting
You can find the race info pack here ; https://www.113events.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CC2019-–-Race-Information-Sheet.docx

Start list
Following on from the 900 or so requests for Waves and Numbers that I received during the selection window, you can now find the final published start list here : https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic/cotswold-classic-start-list/
I’m pretty sure we accommodated 99.9% of the requests, but this list is now final, the bibs are ordered with names on them and coloured hats for waves, so I’m afraid I can’t now make any changes, sorry

Registration 
We will hold our registration on Saturday the 3rd August at the lake between 12:00 and 17:00
I appreciate that not everyone can get there, so there’s still a couple of options :
1) You can get someone else to register for you (more details below)
2) We will aim to have the race packs ready at our house in Swindon by around Wednesday evening next week, and you’re welcome to come by and see Nicci and register here if you’re passing Swindon on the M4 – Number 1 applies to number two too, if you have someone else passing swindon that can register for you

When you register with us you will need some form of Photo ID, and if that ID isn’t a valid 2019 BTF license, you will need £5 cash to buy a BTF day license from us. If you are in a relay team, all members will need to either be BTF members with a Valid 2019 Photo License, or buy a BTF day license at registration
If you want someone else to register for you, that’s totally fine, and they will need a photocopy of your photo ID with a note on it to say it’s fine for them to collect and sign on your behalf, and if that photocopy ID is not a 2019 BTF card, you will need £5 cash for a BTF day membership for them
It absolutely must be a photocopy and not an original, as the BTF rules state that we must then retain that copy and pass it onto the BTF referee on the day, who will then make spot checks that people who are supposed to be racing are actually the ones who are racing. We will, of course, keep them safe for the duration and shred all of these post race so there’s no issues with ID’s getting in the wrong hands

Water temperature
Unless you’ve been living in Antartica or in a cave for the last couple of weeks, you will have felt that it’s been blimmin hot, and down here today was 34 degrees.
What this means, I’m afraid, is that the water temperature is currently above the cut off of 24deg, which would make, if we raced today, the Swim a compulsory non wetsuit swim.
The rest of this week is forecasted to be 30+ deg also. However, next week is looking cooler and the lake does drop in temperature very quickly due to being shallow.
I still think there’s a good chance that we will be within the ‘Wetsuit optional’ range on August the 4th, but just in case, I would strongly suggest that if you’ve not done any open water swimming without a wetsuit, this weekend would be a very good time to give it a go as it’s really not that bad at all.
The lake we use is available for Swimming this weekend on Friday night after 17:30 and Saturday and Sunday mornings before 10am, and they have a good cafe with some really nice cake too.
We do get some tolerance and air temp adjustments for Water temp on race morning. However, I’ve seen races where organisers have put swimmers in wetsuits where the temperatures are high, and it’s not safe for anyone. In the race I saw, they had several accidents in the first few miles of the bike due to heat exhaustion and people getting the wobbles as well as people being really quite ill in transition, so we will be applying the rules in a safe and sensible manner and your safety is the most important thing to us.
I recognise that many of you are not overly happy swimming in open water without a wetsuit, so to set your minds slightly at ease, I just wanted to remind you of a few things at our race that might help should we have to make the call :
1) The lake we use for the race has a few spots in it around our course where you can stand up, and you’re welcome to do so to take a short break
2) The water safety crew of canoeists will allow you to hold onto their canoe for a short break if you need. You can signal to them in the water and they’ll help you do that, but please make sure, if you do hold onto a canoe, that you hold either the front or rear tip only otherwise that canoeist will be in the water next to you, and probably not best pleased
To remind you all of a few things in the rules of a non wetsuit swim that we have to follow, as outlined by the BTF (you can find the rules here: https://www.britishtriathlon.org/britain/documents/events/competition-rules/british-triathlon-competition-rules-2019.pdf in section 4) here’s the outline of the basic things that will generally get asked
1) You will not be allowed to wear buoyancy shorts or any form of neoprene/floatation aid
2) You will not be allowed to use a tow float (I always found this to be a strange rule, but it is a rule non the less)
3) You can swim in just a swim suit for the ladies or speedos/shorts for the men, and don’t need your upper half covered
4) You cannot wear calf guards in a none wetsuit swim (again, another weird rule)

The forecast for the weekend is looking much cooler, as is next week, and I’ll keep our facebook and twitter pages updated, and also include a water temp update in our following newsletters

We’re here to help, so please don’t hesitate to give me a call or drop me an email in the run up to the race if there’s anything you need from me, or anything I can help with

Cheers and happy tapering

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