The epic experience of the Cotswold 113 middle distance triathlon

Middle distance triathlon is a modest sounding affair which positions it as an accomplishment we should be proud of but nothing ridiculous. This event also can be tagged as a half ironman which conjures up strong feeling from the ironman association but falls a bit flat with the first word "half". Sure to be ribbed with comments asking why you couldn't do the whole thing. Middle distance triathlon is a 1.9k swim following by a 56 mile bike ride finishing with a half marathon. It is not something you just rock up to without having invested some time in preparation. The cotswold 113 is just such an event held in the heart of this beautiful part of the country ( http://cotswold113.com/site/ ) with the swim taking part in the Ashton Keynes water park lake. The bike course is a 2 lap sweeping course around the nearby villages that only see 54 metres of climbing so as flat as you can achieve minus a spirit level. After all this effort you wrap it up with a 3 lap run around the lake and adjoining country park. The event is quite small with less than a 1,000 people but has everything you would expect of much bigger races with marshals everywhere and aid stations helping you along the way. The event is run twice a year in June and August with an iron distance also taking part at the later event. This years event in June enjoyed some sunshine and little wind conditions to give competitors every chance of achieving a personal best. The event this year was only tarnished by the theft of bikes from competitors camping at the nearby site. The details of the story only become worse in finding that these competitors were part of the help for heroes charity team doing wonderful work to raise money and awareness for wounded service men. 

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-27858918 

Hopefully this team will get their bikes back but have missed out on competing at this great event. 

If you do enjoy middle distance triathlon this event is epic for fast times and a real close community feel. Fingers crossed for the legends from help the heroes.