The most vital ingredients for a successful race are location, location, location says Mark Davis, the originator of the August bank holiday Vachery Triathlon Festival, a weekend of road and cross triathlon racing, with camping and fun activities for kids of all ages.
Held on 25-27 August 2012 in Cranleigh, Surrey, the Vachery Estate is a great location that taps into the large body of UK triathletes in the London and South East area. The venue is less than 30 minutes from the M3, M23 and M25 motorways and is situated right in the middle of the British Triathlon Federation’s South East region, with the country’s highest concentration of triathlon participation.
Even more so, the 12th century Vachery Estate near Cranleigh sits in the shadow of the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The surrounding country lanes are well known by cyclists of all abilities. The area will of course be made even more famous if Mark Cavendish can stay with the leaders as they repeatedly climb the zig-zags on nearby Box Hill to win the sprint and a gold medal at the Olympic road race on the Mall this year.
The venue for the festival’s swim action is Vachery Pond, a spring fed private reservoir. Hidden from view by a thick curtain of trees it provides an unexpected panorama of open water that disappears into the distance almost 1K away.
With such a large expanse of water to hand its hardly surprising that Mick Dicker, Raw Energy Pursuits’ founder and the festival’s Race Director, decided on a simple out and back swim course for both the Sprint and Standard distance triathlon races.
Although at first the organisers found it wasn’t all easy going, as the unspoilt expanse of water has not got permanent access, a slipway or steps to deal with the large number of swimmers the event is expecting to attract. Davis and Dicker chanced upon a handy solution by hiring the actual pontoon that the London Olympic triathletes and long distance swimmers will dive from into the Serpentine and into Olympic history.
The moment the London Olympic event is over the pontoon will be packed up and transported directly to the Vachery Estate where it will be stored briefly before being floated onto Vachery Pond. This gives competitors the added bonus of following in the footsteps of their Olympic heroes, and should inspire some great swimming at the triathlon festival.
The weekend fun begins at midday on Saturday 25 August when the campsite (immediately next door to the transition area and race village) opens. Athletes for the following day’s races are able to register then or up to an hour before their race start. The Saturday afternoon and evening is all about relaxing, enjoying the location and maybe a pre-race drink at the bar with family and friends.
The road triathlon race programme starts early on Sunday morning, 26 August, with Sprint and Standard distance events for individuals and a relay for teams. The road triathlon bike courses are on country roads that are relatively flat and feature new smooth tarmac surfaces.
Cross triathletes get a rare pre-race lie in, because the festival’s cross tri action, which includes the only round of The Scott Xtri series in the South of England starts in the afternoon after the road triathletes have finished racing. The swim section is the same as for the road counterparts. However the cross bike section is on a 15K lap route designed by eight times XTERRA world championship round winner Sam Gardner. His fast lap course features a scenic 1.5K stretch of water’s edge single-track and uses tracks and trails to visit every area of woodland on the large estate.
Road and off-road triathlons use the same 5K and 10K run courses, which are on relatively flat tracks, trails and paths including part of The Downs Link, a disused railway line forming part of the 37 miles (59K) long-distance path linking St Martha’s Hill, near Guildford, to near Shoreham on the south coast.
Sunday 26 August 2012
Morning race schedule (road-triathlon)
- Road individual Sprint distance triathlon – 750m swim, 16K bike and 5K run – £40 BTF member, £44 non member
- Road individual Standard distance triathlon – 1500m swim, 40K bike and 10K run – £50 BTF member, £54 non member
- Road team relay Standard distance triathlon – 1500m swim, 40K bike and 10K run – £60 per team
Afternoon race schedule (cross-triathlon)
- Individual cross triathlon sprint distance – 750m swim,; 15K bike and 5K run – £40 BTF member, £44 non member
- Individual Xtri standard distance – 1500m swim, 30K bike and 10K run – £50 BTF member, £54 non member
- Relay Team Xtri standard distance – 1500m swim, 30K bike and 10K run – £70
The Vachery Estate is a private organic farm located 30 minutes from major motorways the M3, M23 and M25. Vachery Pond is a spring fed reservoir; it is over 900m long, covers an area of approx 50 acres and a walk around the perimeter measures 3.1K. The Xtri bike section route is designed by Sam Gardener, pro triathlete and eight times XTERRA World Championship Round Winner.
