The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic 2022 competitors today
Cotswold Classic – July 10th – Pre race newsletter #1
Good morning all, I hope everyone’s well and ready to come racing with us in just over 4 weeks.
Now the start list is fixed and we’re fully in the run up to race day, I’ll start to get the final bits of info out to you all over the next few weeks to ensure everyone’s up to speed and ready to race.
Although I’ll try and keep all the following newsletters fairly brief, this one’s gonna be a long one, so please grab a seat and a coffee and prepare yourself for a marathon
In this email, I’ll cover the following:
Race fixed and final info
Race information pack
Swim start format and info
Planning your race weekend
Marshal request
Familiarisation day
Race fixed and final info
The start list for the race is now fixed and submitted to insurers etc, so I can no longer offer name swaps and deferrals I’m afraid, sorry
However, as we’re posting out our registration packs, I wanted to use this as a reminder that if any of you have moved house since you entered the race, please can you send me your new address this week please and I’ll ensure your race pack goes to the correct address. You can see your registered address on your entry confirmation email, unless you’ve instructed a change since.
The race packs will start to get sent around 2 weeks out from the race, and will be on your doorstep sometime before Tuesday of race week. If your registered address is not a UK address, your pack will be waiting for you on race weekend with the registration guys.
Race information pack
You can find a link to the race information pack here : https://www.113events.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CC2022-–-Race-Information-Sheet.pdf
This contains absolutely everything you need to know about the race, and it’s really important that you take the time to read it please. It’s your pack for your race, so if there’s anything else you think needs to be covered, please just ask and we’ll add it in.
I’m afraid you’re going to get bored of me sending you this as I’m going to add the link into all the pre race emails, but it’s amazing how many people don’t read it and end up either not knowing something important about the day, or turning up with the wrong stuff.
Swim start format and info
The race will start on July 10th at 05:55 and starts will run until 07:00
During Covid times, we moved from a series of waved mass starts to a rolling start window where a competitor starts every 4-5 seconds. This was very popular with the vast majority of competitors, and something we’ll continue with
However, I’m also conscious that there’s still a minority that like a mass start so they can see who they’re racing against on the course and not just against the clock. For this reason, we’ll cater for both options, and start the race at 05:55 with a small mass start for those that want it (more info on this later in this email) followed by 6 x 10min windows for rolling start waves : 05:55 Mass Start (limited numbers)
06:00-06:10 Wave 1
06:10-06:20 Wave 2 06:20-06:30 Wave 3
06:30-06:40 Wave 4
06:40-06:50 Wave 5
06:50-07:00 Wave 6
You will now have a short window in which you can choose a specific wave and/or race number, but please can I ask that you carefully read the following advice and guidelines before getting your request in :
To front-load the information, all our waves have roughly the same average swim time, so it’s certainly not fastest guys off first, and slowest last.
For choosing a wave, I want to give you some examples of why you might want a specific wave
You might be the next Michael Phelps and want clear water ahead of you, so would want either the mass start or wave 1.
You might feel you’re the slower end of the field, and not want to be the last person out on the run course, so would want an earlier wave with 1 or 2
You might be a more nervous swimmer, and want to see a few waves go off before you start to settle your nerves so would want a middle wave
You might want an extra 45mins in bed, so would want a later wave
You might want to be home in time for Songs of Praise, so would want an early wave
You don’t need to choose a specific wave, and many don’t. How it will then work, is once all the requests are in, we’ll backfill the remainder of the places in each wave alphabetically.
You can also now choose a specific race number or ask for a random group of sequential numbers so that you and your friends are racked in transition next to each other.
Numbers get snapped up very quickly and I’ll get over 700 requests, so when requesting, please also ask for a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th choice if you have them for a specific number (numbers 69, 666 and things like 33, 111 etc, or years of birth are most popular).
The transition works sequentially, and as you always enter/exit at opposite ends, there’s no racing advantage to a low or high number. If asking for a random group of numbers to be racked with your club mates, please read the following request process:
I will need not just their names, but also their Dates of Birth and registered email addresses as we often get duplicates of seemingly unique names, not just John Smith’s and Ann Browns.
Please check with them first as very often we get requests for someone to be racked with their friends in [for example] wave 3, when some of those mates have already asked to be with some other clubs in wave 6.
Please get the request right first time and not try and add more people in later as I won’t be able to accommodate that (ie, I’ll allocated you numbers 456-462 for your group, so 463 won’t be available later to add someone else in, as I’ll have allocated 463-478 to the next group)
I really like that we can offer this as I feel that it’s valued, and I literally have to block out 30-40 hours staring at an excel document in order to do this, so please can I ask that you make my life easier and get it right first time, check your mates actually don’t want to be racked with other mates in an other wave, and that the people you’re asking to be racked with and go off in the same wave as, have actually entered the race as this happens an awful lot too, and I’m left scratching my head trying to find a Dave Jones, when he’s not actually entered the race in the first place.
You can choose any number from 10-700inc and any wave from the mass start to waves 1-6.
Relay teams can choose a wave, but not a number as they’re racked separately to the solo entries.
The window for choosing a Wave and/or a race number opens now, and will close on Monday night (June 13th)
You can make your request by emailing Graeme@113events.com using ‘Waves and Numbers’ as the email title
As I’ll get around 6-700 request, please accept that I can’t respond to each and every email, so you’ll need to await the start list being published end of next week
Planning your race weekend
I know we’re now approaching the time where you want to start finalising the planing of your weekend.
It’s important to note that if you only want to come along on Sunday, that’s totally fine as we do all our racking on Sunday morning, and although you will need to sign in Sunday morning, your registration pack will come out in the post beforehand.
However, we do have Saturday stuff on if you wanted to make a weekend of it:
On the Saturday, there will be an option to have a swim which I will send booking info out on around 2 weeks out from the race
We will also have a Saturday briefing which isn’t compulsory*, but is useful to attend if you’re new to Triathlon or you’ve not raced with us before. The Saturday briefing will be very informal, and we’ll take around 45mins to an hour to talk through the race bit by bit and myself and Dave will try and make it as entertaining as possible to give you some advice and examples on what to expect and how to race and we’ll answer any questions you might have.
Also, on the Saturday afternoon, we’ll have a time slot in which you can sign on/register early which will save you time on Sunday morning. At the same time, you can buy Sunday’s parking tickets too, which will also save you a load of time Sunday morning too, so if nothing else, turning up Saturday might get you 20mins longer in Bed Sunday.
We’ll get finalised times for Saturday’s stuff out in a couple of weeks, but realistically, it’s going to be something like Early registration window 2-3pm and briefing 3-4pm
* A compulsory race briefing will be sent out as a video link during the early part of race week
Marshal request
As anyone that’s every organised races will know, getting marshals is one of the hardest bits of the race and the bit you get let down on the most, especially if the weather forecast isn’t looking favourable like last weekend’s race.
We have around 180-200 paid marshals and helpers on the day
We have a mega bunch of regular guys and girls that help out at our race each time, and we backfill the rest of the positions with friends, family etc of competitors. We still have around 20 places that need filling, so if you have anyone that is coming along with you and wants to see the race from the more fun side, we’d absolutely love them on the team and would welcome them in with open arms
All marshals get paid too, and they can choose from either £20 cash or a £40 113 Events Voucher, and we’ll get them a free team shirt and kitted up with everything they need as well as partnering them up if required and taken through a full briefing, and keep them in free hot food, drinks and ice creams all day.
There’s free camping on Site for marshals too, so if you’re planning on coming along in a camper, and can bring a marshal to stay with you, you can stay on site for free around 150m from the start area.
All we ask is that they’re over 16 and know their left from their right, and we’ll brief them up on everything they need to know, and if they’re less experienced, put them with someone who knows the drills.
The two shifts are
Bike Team – 05:15 briefing, finish around 11:30
Run Team – 07:15 briefing, finish around 14:30
Please email graeme@113events.com
Familiarisation day
For those of you that have entered the race in the last few weeks, you will have missed the newsletter on this Sunday’s free of charge familiarisation day, where we’ll take you for a leisurely paced lap of the Bike and run courses (bike is 2 laps on race day, so 28miles per lap, and run is 3 laps on race day, so 4.33miles per lap) so you can see where you’re racing on on the day.
It kicks off with a single bike lap around 9am, and the run lap around 11:30 and the emphasis is very much on leisurely paced, so no one should get dropped (Think circa 14-15mph on the bike, and 10-11min miles on the run)
If you’re interested in attending this Sunday, we have a handful of spots left, so please drop me an email
Right, that’s it from me for today. Sorry this has been a long one, and hope that you’re all still awake ?
We really are here to help and to make sure you all get the most from the race, so if there’s anything we can help with, anything you want advice on or you just want to talk about whether the Sub7/8 race last weekend is relevant or not to triathlon (this seems to be a hot topic right now) please just drop me an email or give me a call
Cheers and happy training
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events Team
graeme@113events.com
07595 591612