One Step Beyond has sadly, and reluctantly, had to cancel the City of Cambridge Triathlon. The organisers’ hand was forced due to water quality issues in the River Cam, the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England.
The event, which was originally set for 28 September 2014, had attracted a headline sponsor, Cambridge Property Lettings, as well several supporting sponsors and over 1300 athletes signed up to race.
As the organisers point out, this was a difficult decision to make; and the City of Cambridge Tri could have been an iconic race of the future. There are not many city centre races across the UK, and very few using rivers, so this one could have been very special.
The following statement has gone out to registered athletes…
City of Cambridge Triathlon Cancelled
It is with the deepest regret that we are announcing the cancellation of the City of Cambridge Triathlon, due to safety concerns relating to the swim. We have been assessing the water quality for twelve months in line with the strict guidelines set out by the International Triathlon Union (ITU). During this period 15 individual tests have been carried out to assess the water’s Enterococci, Escherichia coli and pH levels. A number of these tests were carried out prior to the event being announced earlier this year and returned acceptable results.
Unfortunately in July an independent water sampling company carried out some additional tests and the river was judged to be unsuitable for competitive swimming. The river exceeded the standards for Enterococci and Escherichia coli, as well as testing positive for Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease), which is potentially fatal and obviously deemed unsuitable by ITU regulations. It is likely that heavy downpours of rain prior to the test led to this result, and it does not mean that this is a permanent condition of the river’s health.
We apologise for cancelling the event, however we will not risk your safety, it will always be our number one priority. We will refund every competitor.
We are devastated; we have been working on this event for over 15 months, committing hundreds of hours of planning work to the project. We are really disappointed as we know so many of you have been training hard to get ready for the event and we truly believe that this could have developed into one of the iconic races in the UK.
We have reviewed alternative race options, which included switching the swim element to the Jesus Green Lido or changing the event to a Duathlon. However, this was not what you signed up for and the decision has been taken to cancel the event.
You will receive a second email in the next 48 hours asking for confirmation of your payment details. Please could we ask you to reply to this email ASAP, but then bear with us, with over 1,300 registered competitors it will undoubtedly take some time to refund everyone.
Regards
A disappointed team
