The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic 2020 competitors today
Cotswold Classic Middle Distance Tri – Aug 2nd 2020
Good afternoon all, I hope everyone’s well and ready for next weekend
It’s been a somewhat stressful last few months, but we’re now getting closer to the date and everything (fingers crossed) is looking good
The BTF have now agreed to permit* our event, and we are going to be the first UK BTF triathlon to take place post lockdown, so there’s lots of eyes on us, and we’re very confident that we can deliver the day in a totally safe manner for everyone involved.
*The BTF have the right to withdraw the permit should there be a sudden outbreak and local lockdown in the area like we’ve seen recently in Leicester – Although the area of the race has a very low infection rate, so we’re not expecting this to happen
For those of you that have raced with us before, it’s not going to be like a normal 113 event, and there’s some substantial changes on how the day will work, but you will still get to compete over the full distance, and we’re going to try and make it as fun as is possible in order to bring some normality back to these strange times.
How the guys at the BTF have sold this to the government in order to get agreement for our sport to recommence is not as a mass participation event, but individuals coming along to the venue and being timed for swimming, biking and running, in a social bubble of one. Middle Distance Triathlon has always been an individual sport, but for the purpose of this year’s event, it’s going to be even more so.
In the interest of reflecting our sport in a positive light, it’s important that we all stick to this as we want the Sport of Triathlon to come away from our day with the broader audience believing it’s not jeopardising the health of our Nation through the spread of Covid19, and in some measure, the future of Triathlon in the UK in 2020 is in our hands.
If you’ve not seen the start list from the previous newsletter, you can find it here : https://www.113events.com/cotswold-classic/cotswold-classic-start-list/
Here you can find all your race numbers, waves and wave times
I’m afraid the race is totally fixed and frozen now, so we cannot make any changes, deferrals or swaps to any entries at this stage, sorry
As I mentioned above, there’s some fairly big changes to how this day will run compared to our normal Triathlons, and you can find all the info on the day here : https://www.113events.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/CC2020-–-Race-Information-Sheet.docx
Please, please, please, take your time to read the above linked race info pack in full
The main changes for the day are as follows :
- There is no Saturday registration and you will all get your race bibs and bike stickers in the post
- Every single competitor, marshal and team member will be temp checked by our medical team on arrival, and anyone showing above the Governments guideline temperature will be turned away
- You absolutely must not attend if you have displayed symptoms* in the last 14 days or have been in contact with anyone that has
- We are allowing no spectators on site (we will have live tracking and finish line live video link running)
- You will be required to wear a mask when you rack your bike in transition in the morning
- When you arrive at Transition Sunday morning, your Swim cap and timing chip/strap will be in your numbered spot
- In order to reduce the rush in transition between Swim/Bike and Bike/Run where social distancing can be difficult, transition times will be neutralised in the results up to 10 minutes for T1 and 5 minutes for T2. This will allow you all to take your time in Transition and not jeopardise someone else bubble
- You must maintain at least 2m during swimming, overtaking on the bike and running and the BTF’s 12m Draft rule applies on the bike and will be enforced.
- We will pull competitors from the event if they are found to be breaking social distancing rules
- There will be hand gel all around the course, and you should be using it regularly before and after anything you might have contact with
- We will have a rolling start and competitors will start within their wave window at 10 second intervals into the water
- There will be two swim distances that you can choose on the morning of 300m and the traditional 1,900m
- You can also start directly on the bike if you do not wish to Swim at all.
- You will need to be self sufficient for Aid on the Bike Course
- We are using our alternative bike course*** that we previously used in June 19 to remove narrow sections (And also the hill that many of you will be glad to avoid)
- The Run course will have two Aid stations that will have Cupped Water and High5 Iso gels. You must help yourself from the tables set out, and follow direction into the ‘Two Chute system’
- Your race bib has your shirt size on it, and you will be given your Medal, a Bottle of Water, Shirt and Goody bag at the finish line.
* Full info on symptoms can be found here : https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
**This will mean that your timed results will exclude any transition time, so there is no urgent rush to get changed next to your bike and potentially infringe someone else 2m space.
*** Yesterday, I went out and rode a lap of the Alternative bike course to make final checks on conditions etc, and have uploaded it to Strava if any of you want to check the Map, Elevation profiles or download it as a GPX file : https://strava.app.link/kaZ5KOMAk8
Mid next week, we will publish a video briefing of the main points relating to Covid19, and it’s very important that you all take the time to watch it. It’ll be myself and Noisy Dave, and although I get that we have faces for Radio and shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the business end of a camera, what we’ll be going through is important for all of us
I fully appreciate this all sounds very strict, and we will, of course, still try and make the day as fun as possible so that we can feel like we have a snippet of normality back in our lives.
This is uncharted territory for us, much like it is for you all, so please understand that we have to be super strict on everything next Sunday and we will have many eyes on us to ensure that we run the day in a totally safe manner.
Right, that’s it for me for today
I will be back in touch with a final email next week with the last bits of info running up to the day
If you have any questions, or there’s anything we can help with, please just ask
Thanks and happy tapering
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
07595 591612
graeme@113events.com