The Castle Triathlon Series has become a force to be reckoned with in recent years. Originally building from an initial event, the Hever Castle Triathlon in Kent, the UK-based Castle Tri team has since expanded to castle-themed triathlons in France and Ireland.
While running a triathlon event amidst the settings of European castles does give the series a unique look and feel, there are other initiatives helping to drive the series onwards and upwards. A focus on kids triathlon has proven particularly popular and the series has expanded into middle distance and more recently confirmed a foray into long distance tri.
To find out more, we caught up with Brian Adcock, a former Royal Marines Commando and the founder and Race Director of the Castle Triathlon Series…
triathlonbusiness.com (TriBiz): Tell us a little bit about Brian Adcock!
Brian Adcock (BA): I went to Loughborough University to read PE, Sports Science and Maths. From there, I went to play rugby but picked up a shoulder injury and this prompted me to take up water polo. I played water polo for Great Britain at the World Student Games in Sheffield in 1991.
Then, in 1991, I joined the Royal Marines and went on to become an RM helicopter pilot in 1994. I left in 1999 having travelled the world and seen enough to know that it wasn’t a full time career option for me. I represented the Royal Navy at swimming, water polo, triathlon and rowing. Sport has always been a big part of my life!
I joined the London Events Agency in 1999 and was the Event Director for the Millennium Youth Games (the largest ever youth sports event in the UK) in Southampton. I set up my own events company in 2001 and have operated in the corporate/pubic events space ever since. Clients have included Nike, Berkeley Homes, Microsoft, Sky Movies and many more.
TriBiz: How did the idea for the Castle Triathlon Series initially come about?
BA: I live near Hever Castle in Kent and a mate of mine had dinner with the new estate manager in early 2009. He expressed an interest in putting on a triathlon at the castle and we were introduced. Six months later, in September 2009, we put on our first triathlon at the castle for just over 1,000 entrants.
TriBiz: Since getting up-and-running in 2009, what have you learnt along the way over the past five or so years?
BA: That triathlon is still a sport that needs to be de-mystified. Simple things, that are not allowed in the official rule book, like the allowing of a parent in transition to assist with the taking off of wetsuits for the youngest age groupers are examples of how we have modified the accepted norms.
TriBiz: Turning to your pricing structure, this is positioned as ‘a premium product at a fair price’. Can you elaborate?
BA: The five castles from which we operate are all stunning and eminently ‘visitable’ in their own right. Due to our empathetic approach to the owners and operators of the venues, we can allow our competitors a money can’t buy opportunity to tour these incredible places in the pursuit of sporting competition.
Despite the size of the races, due to our unique range of formats, we are still able to offer a very personal service for each and every competitor. We are not the most expensive races either; but we would argue that we generate by far the best value for money.
TriBiz: Markel got on board as a sponsor in 2011; how did this deal happen?
BA: My neighbour works for the company and he introduced me to the Marketing Director who is a sports nut. He didn’t take much persuading.
TriBiz: Having run through a two year sponsorship with Markel, are you looking for another title sponsor? Would you prefer another non-endemic brand to back the series?
BA: We are most certainly on the hunt for another title sponsor and have no pre-conceived ideas as to which sector the brand or business might operate in. More important to us is the building of a relationship with a brand that is passionate about our sport and our athletes.
TriBiz: What do you feel are the main attractions for sponsors getting involved with your series?
BA: We offer a pan-European platform of competition for adults and children alike and will have upwards of 12,500 competitors taking part in 2014.
TriBiz: TV cameras were on hand at this year’s Hever Castle Triathlon and the event was televised on Channel 4 TV, plus Eurosport. How important do you feel TV exposure is for your series and triathlon in general?
BA: The sport is becoming steadily more mainstream as the years tick by – which is great for everyone involved. We have already seen a massive uptake on places for next year with nearly 2,000 signed up already! Dream Team TV, who filmed Hever for us in September, are great exponents of the triathlon art form and we hope to get them involved in filming at other events too in 2014.
TriBiz: You’ve grown your series and clocked up record numbers again this year; what factors do you feel are driving this growth?
BA: Word of mouth is a big factor for us. This, combined with more investment operationally has meant that we consistently deliver premium events at each venue of the series. That aside, our marketing budget is extremely well spent and tracked so that we can keep a good account of what works and what doesn’t.
TriBiz: Hever Castle Triathlon is billed as ‘the largest children’s triathlon in Europe’. Talk us through the milestones along the way…
BA: The numbers went from 400 in 2011, to 700 in 2012 and then we had to cap the entries at 1,300 in 2013. I think we will double these numbers again in 2014 with the kids entries spread across two days. The dream is to have a children’s only triathlon weekend in 2015 with over 5,000 kids taking part!
TriBiz: Do you feel enough is being done to get kids into triathlon?
BA: Absolutely not. There is a huge interest in the sport from schoolkids and very little in terms of grassroots opportunities out there. We do our bit in terms of regional outreach at each venue, but feel that a lot more could be done to take advantage of the groundswell. We have countless numbers of new school triathlon clubs being formed etc.
To get the sport of triathlon flourishing, it’s essential to encourage young people to get into the sport. It’s not just about creating the next Olympic champion. It’s about showing that triathlon is a relevant sport for young athletes. This is one component, overall, in getting the sport of triathlon more of a mainstream activity.
TriBiz: What are your plans to expand kids triathlon in the Castle Triathlon Series?
BA: We have developed a school resource for teachers in conjunction with Greenwich University, which we will be launching next month. We will also look to increase the numbers of children competing at each event in 2014 and have already had to spread the Hever Castle children’s field across two days. In addition, we hope to expand the family festival to attract more families and more newcomers to the sport.
TriBiz: British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) hosted its Standard Distance Triathlon Championships at the Cholmondeley Castle Triathlon this year. You’re focusing on younger athletes again! Is it a long-term focus to get university students racing at your events?
BA: We were approached by BUCS last year but have a long standing arrangement with the Performance Squads at Loughborough, Bath and Leeds to allow elites to race for free at all of our venues. Our 50% student discount has been in operation for three years and, yes, we hope to establish a loyal fan base of students going forward.
TriBiz: You’ve started to introduce middle distance (The Gauntlet) and now long distance (The Bastion) racing. How much of these new races coming about is down to: athlete ‘pull’ versus marketing ‘push’?
BA: With 11 months to go until the second Hever Gauntlet race we have already sold 100 places and would expect to achieve over 1000 starts in only our second year. We only have a relatively small marketing budget and so I genuinely believe that the 1/2 iron distance race format is gaining hugely in popularity.
We have, in both our French and Hever races this year seen a large number of first timers attempt the 1/2 iron distance as their first (and possibly only) triathlon and we see this as a rapidly increasing trend. We like to think that The Gauntlet is the new London Marathon!
As for the Bastion, our new iron distance race at Hever in July 2014, we wanted a suitably tough race on the calendar at our most iconic and popular venue and think we have come up with an absolute corker! With a river swim in the castle grounds, nearly 3000m of climbing on the cycle course through the High Weald of Kent and Ashdown Forest and a beautiful run around the estate grounds – we think we have created a race that will be the most talked about on the UK long course calendar.
Again, a small budget is behind all of this; and we are only just going to market. But the early expressions of interest are looking encouraging.
TriBiz: Any other new events in the pipeline (that you can talk about!)?
BA: I am currently looking for a castle in Italy to hold the sixth triathlon of the year in late October 2014 to coincide with the UK half term school holiday.
We are also working on developing Swimming Festivals (swim only events) at each of our castles and someone in the office the other day came up with a mad Tour de France idea (using a 1/2 iron distance triathlon as the daily fodder interspersed with time trial events). This brought many of the girls out in a cold sweat. Watch this space!
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