The following newsletter went out to all Cotswold Classic competitors today:
Cotswold Classic Triathlon – July 11th 2021
Good afternoon all, I hope everyone’s well ?
We’re about 3 months out from the race now, so I wanted to get in touch with everyone to bring you all up to speed on what’s happening with the planning for the race, and to let you all know that things are full steam ahead for July (Fingers crossed)
We’re in truly strange times at the moment, but the good news is that Triathlon is now being permitted again in the UK, and has been since last month.
Obviously, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt over the last 13 months is that things can change very quickly, but we appear to be on an upward path, and assuming the UK doesn’t fall back into a full lockdown, things are looking good for July.
I’ll try and keep this email fairly brief as I’m conscious that many of you are either swimming, shopping or getting haircuts today, so in this email I’ll cover the following:
1) What to expect and when / Weekend Planning
2) Swimming options and adjustments for Covid
3) Camping
4) Marshal request
What to expect and when
Over the next 3 months, we’ll be sending out bits of info to yourselves in order to be able to get you all ready for racing.
I’ll try not to bombard you all with info, and we’ll keep it in manageable chunks as and when it’s available and relevant
Roughly, around 6 weeks out from the race, I’ll send out an email that will include a link to the race info pack. This pack will contain everything you need to know about the weekend to enable you to get your final plans in place for coming down to the Cotswolds in July.
In advance of that, I’ll send you all maps for the Bike course as I’m aware that many of you will want to come down before the race weekend to spin a lap or two so you can see what’s in store on race day.
Typically, we run a free of charge familiarisation day about 4-5 weeks out from the race where you can do a guided lap of the Swim, Bike and run courses. However, with the gradual relaxing of covid rules running up to later in June, I’m afraid this just won’t be possible this year as riding 200 people around the course in a group won’t go down well.
However, if you wanted to come down and see the course, as long as you’re happy with Mid week mornings, I’m local to the lake and happy to show small groups around the bike and run courses. I’ll cover more on the swimming in the next section, but the lake we use is now open for swimming again.
In terms of a rough outline of the race weekend:
Saturday 10th July
12:00-17:00 – Registration and briefings
Sunday 11th July
04:00 – Transition opens for bike racking (no racking available on the Saturday)
06:00 – Race starts and goes off in 6 waves* at 10 minute intervals
*Around 5 weeks out from the race, you will get an opportunity to choose a wave if you like
Swimming options and adjustments for Covid
Our swim course is 1,900m and this will still be the main choice on the day
However, I’m quite conscious that with pools in England only reopening today, and open water swimming only starting a few weeks ago, it’ll have had a big impact on many of your preparations for swimming the distance.
Therefore, like for last year’s races, we’ll also offer up the option for a shorter course (Around 400m) and also for competitors to skip the swim completely and start on the bike. You won’t need to decide until race morning, and we’ll put timing mats up at the start of each option, so we can produce 3 separate sets of results, and all competitors will still finish on the same finish chute and collect their medal, goody bag etc
Hopefully, having these options will help relax many of you that I understand are quite nervous about swimming the full 1,900m with a much reduced preparation period where the pools have been closed (And still are in Wales)
For any of you that want to head down to the Cotswolds and have a swim in the lake before then, the lake we use is now fully open again for pay on the day swimmers, and I’ll add some blurb from those guys at the bottom of this email with how to book etc.
Camping
A few weeks ago, we found out that the campsite next to the lake aren’t going to open this year (for reasons unknown to us – they’re not anything to do with 113, but happen to be located next to the lake we use)
Currently, we’re trying to get some other land around the lake that we can use for competitor camping, so please bear with us as it’s not proving as easy as we’d hoped. Hopefully, we’ll get something sorted in the next few weeks, and as soon as we do, we’ll get info out
Alternatively, there’s loads of AirBnB’s nearby and hotels within a reasonable distance. The postcode for the race start/finish is GL7 6DF
Marshal request
Over the last 10 years, we’re very proud that we’ve built up a reputation of having some of the best and most numerous (and humorous) marshals in the sport. Around 50-60% of our marshals are regulars, and the remainder we get from the competitors. We always need more marshals and they really help make the day for you guys. If you have anyone coming along with you that could get involved, we’d certainly welcome them on to the team pretty please
We pay all our marshals too, and they can either choose from £20 cash or a £40 113 Events Voucher, plus we’ll get them an event shirt, keep them in hot food and drink and make sure they have a fun day.
They don’t need any experience at all, and all we ask is that they’re reasonably enthusiastic, know their left from their right and are over 16 please
All shifts start with a full briefing, we’ll kit them up with everything they need and partner them up with someone more experienced if required.
Alternatively, if you fancy seeing how the race works from the inside before you race with us in July, we still need more team members for our June 6th Cotswold 113, which is effectively identical to the July 11th race and we would certainly welcome you along.
If you fancy getting involved yourself in June, or can pressgang some along in July, please drop me an email at graeme@113events.com
Right, that’s it from me for today. Hopefully you’re all still awake ? 🙂
We’re here to help, so if you need anything from us, or there’s anything we can help with, please just get in touch
Cheers and Happy training
Graeme, Nicci and the 113 Events team
Graeme@113events.com
07595 591612
More info on lake 32 Swimming
———————————————————————————————————-
Waterland Outdor pursuits : Lake 32
ABOUT US
Lake 32 is a clear freshwater lake located within the beautiful Cotswold Water Park. We are open for the vast majority of the year, closing only for triathlon events and Christmas. The 1000-metre lake is surrounded by woodland and wildlife and offers the perfect spot to peacefully enjoy the outdoors and unwind.
Our ethos is ‘what we can do for you’. We have been operating the site for more than 20 years and have clients who come from a wide area to enjoy the family atmosphere and community feel that we have strived to create. Our clients come to the lake to partake in swimming, paddling and land activities, but they stay to socially engage with other like-minded people.
Our site was inspired by the founding director’s love of the outdoors, and the desire to share it with others. This desire formed the basis of what we are today; A place to play, exercise and learn in a community spirited, family-friendly environment.
https://www.ukwatersports.co.uk/triathlon-and-open-water-swimming/