2021 Cotswolds Adventure Race: Important Update for all Race Participants
- Thursday 29 April 2021
We are looking forward to welcoming participants to the 2021 Cotswolds Adventure Race next month.
This event will be slightly different to usual due to Covid-19 control measures implemented to reduce the risk of transmission. We’ll let participants know about these changes in the usual race information published nearer the time. But if you want a heads-up then you can get an idea of the sorts of things that will be different by looking at the control measures on our Covid-19 risk assessment. This is an evolving document that will be reviewed and updated as necessary in the run up to the event. It has been made publicly available to…
- show that the risks have been properly assessed
- reassure you that measures will be taken to reduce the risks where possible
- show you that many of the risks are no greater than (i.e. comparable to) everyday situations encountered by members of the general public
This is a legal requirement of being allowed to hold the event.
As a result, and in preparation for the event, we are asking each team leader (as named on your entry) to update their entry details with the following additional information…
- How many vehicles your team will be travelling in (if more than one)
- Your start time preference (if you/your team have one)
- Your kayak preference (if you/your team have one)
- If you or any of your team members need to hire a bike (and haven’t booked one yet)
Plus, if you wish to purchase a limited edition Questars 2021 t-shirt then you need to pre-order it now. No t-shirts will be available for sale on the day.
The deadline for letting us know if you need to hire a bike and for pre-ordering t-shirts is 17:00 on Monday 3rd May 2021.
Further details about each of the above can be found below. Please read all the accompanying notes below carefully before updating your entry with your choices. Details on how to update your entry can be found at the bottom of this page.
Number of vehicles your team will bring
We need to know how many vehicles your team intends to bring to the event (if more than one). This is so we can ensure their is enough parking space for everyone. We anticipate some teams that would have travelled together in the same vehicle may travel in separate vehicles because of Covid. Obviously if lots of people plan to do this then we will need a lot more parking space than normal so its important that you let us know. If you can share transport with another team member then that would be most appreciated and ease the pressure on parking.
The deadline for letting us know is 17:00 Wednesday 05 May 2021.
Start Time Preference
There are two start waves on each day as follows…
- Wave 1 – Participants must start their race before 09:30
- Wave 2 – Participants must not arrive at the venue until after 09:30
See the Provisional Timings for further details on the timings for each wave.
The reason for having two start waves is to separate the arrival and start (and hence also the finish and departure) of participants on each day into two smaller groups, which are kept apart as much as possible. This is one of many Covid-19 control measures implemented to reduce the risk of transmission.
You can select one of the following options…
- Wave 1 – Must start the race before 09:30
- Wave 2 – Must not arrive on site before 09:30
- Don’t mind, happy to be in either wave
- Same wave as my main competitors (i.e. other people in my race category/class)
- Same wave as another team (provide details of the other team in the additional notes box)
If you do have any strong reasoning behind your choice, please provide this in the ‘Additional notes/comments‘ box. For example, if you have a long journey to the venue on the morning of the event and would therefore find it difficult to make Wave 1 then you need to provide details in the ‘Any notes/comments box’. Simply saying you have a long journey won’t suffice. We need the postcode you’re travelling from on the morning of the race (not the night before), the distance in miles (one-way) and the estimated journey time. This way we can compare you against others who think they are in a similar situation and prioritise those who do genuinely have the longest journeys to make on the morning of the race.
If there are not enough places in a wave to accommodate everyone’s choice, then after taking into account any notes/comments, priority will be given to those that entered first/earliest.
The deadline for letting us know your start time preference is 17:00 Wednesday 05 May 2021.
Kayak Preference
You don’t normally get a choice but since we’re asking for your start time preference, we thought we’d ask for your kayak preference as well given that all participants will either kayak first (before they run and bike) or last (after they run and bike).
You can choose one of the following options…
- Kayak first (i.e. before running and biking)
- Kayak last (i.e. after running and biking)
- Don’t mind, happy to kayak in either time slot
- Same kayak time slot as my main competitors (i.e. other people in my race class/category)
- Same kayak time slot as another team (provide details of the other team in the additional notes box)
- Not applicable (Duo race participants)
This is just to get an idea whether you have any preference or not. If it’s possible to accommodate your preference then we will. If it’s not, then it’s no different to normal. Again, where decisions have to be made over who gets their preference and who doesn’t, priority will be given to those that entered first/earliest.
The deadline letting us know your kayak preference is 17:00 Wednesday 05 May 2021.
Bike Hire
Drover Cycles are providing a hire bike service for this race. All their hire bikes have now been booked. If you or anyone in your team needs to hire a bike and hasn’t already got one booked with Drover Cycles, please let us know by updating your entry as soon as possible so we can gauge numbers. We need to know the names of anyone in your team in this position and their height (used to determine what size bike they require). Once we know how many people still need to hire a bike, then we’ll try to find/recommend another company that can cater for this number of bikes.
The deadline for letting us know that you still need to book a hire bike is 17:00 Monday 03 May 2021.
Please note: By stating you require a hire bike you are making a financial commitment to spend up to £35 plus £7.50 for delivery to and collection from the event. We cannot have a situation where you say you need a hire bike and then don’t hire one as this affects the viability for the provider. This is the same price as Drover Cycles charge.
Questars 2021 T-shirts
T-shirts must be pre-ordered in advance. No t-shirts will be available for sale on the day. This is one of many Covid-19 control measures implemented to reduce the risk of transmission.
The deadline for ordering t-shirts to collect at the Cotswolds event is 17:00 Monday 03 May 2021.
To order a technical t-shirt (pictured above)…
- Enter your details online here
- On step 4, select the t-shirt size you require, and confirm at which event you will collect it. Please also provide your entry ID number (on your entry confirmation email) if possible.
- Check and confirm the details
- Complete the payment process (via WorldPay)
Campervans / Staying in vehicles overnight
Several people have asked if they can park their van at the venue overnight and stay in it. The short answer is no, unfortunately not.
We don’t have permission for participants to stay/park up overnight. The venue is in a residential area and we wouldn’t want to do anything to upset the local community, what with Covid and everything. Plus it is the local community who run and look after the venue (it’s their village hall) and it is they who have kindly allowed us to use it.
We would obviously recommend you use a designated site for camping / campervans. But if you don’t want to do that then we ask you to be respectful of the local area and find a quiet spot to park up overnight at least 5 miles away. As if the layby/car park down the road from the venue is full of people doing the same as you then it’s pretty obvious to the local residents who you are. And this risks jeopardising us being allowed to use the venue again in the future.
We thank you in advance for your understanding and for adhering to this.
No Spectators Please
Sorry but Covid-19 restrictions and control measures mean no spectators are allowed at this event. This is a participant only event. You should therefore plan to travel without anyone (e.g. supporters / friends / family) who is not taking part themselves. And you should not arrange for other people to come and watch you. We understand that this might disappoint some of you but the alternative is to not hold the event at all. So we hope you’ll agree it’s a small price to pay for being able to take part and race. We appreciate your cooperation with this.
How do I update my entry with the details requested above?
The person that made your entry (this is usually the team leader – as designated on your entry) – can edit / update your team details, by using their email address and password to log in to the online entry system here (circled in red on image of screen below).
If you have any difficulty logging in to the online entry system (and you are the named team leader on your entry), please refer to our FAQ’s where you’ll find information on what to do.
Once logged in…
- Under Upcoming Events (highlighted in yellow on image of screen below), select the relevant entry to open and view it by clicking inside the grey box outline, on your name (i.e. where it says Public Guest circled in red on image of screen below). Don’t click on the event name as this opens the event details and not your entry.
- Click on ‘Edit entry details‘ in the column on the left-hand side in the grey box near the top (circled in red on image of screen below)
- Scroll down to Step 3 where you will see the new spaces for you to enter your preferences and other information if necessary (highlighted by the yellow box on image of screen below).
- It’s also a good time to check all your team details are correct. You can add any missing team details in the blank spaces provided and/or update any existing team details by overwriting them with the new details. NB. You can only change your team details (i.e. the data fields under Step 2, 3 and 4). For most other things such as switching race category (e.g. upgrading from the Duo to the Trio race) or adding extra items, you will need to contact us (the system may let you change these options but they won’t be saved).
- Then scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Save Changes‘ at the bottom when you have finished making changes (circled in red on image of screen below)
- Finally, double check to make sure all the changes you made have saved correctly!
