Lacock Road Races - Registrations open for 27th June 2021!
Safe Race
Our new event format has been approved by Public Health England the Safety Advisory Group for Events. We have very detailed plans to ensure social distancing measures are in place through out your race day, along with additional hygiene measures in place through out the venue.
It is very important you familiarise yourself with our updated event plan, check out our safety plan and measures, so you can not what we will be asking of you on race day, and what you can expect from us. You can see all this info on ourSafe Race page.
Step back in time at the wonderfully preserved National Trust village of Lacock. With its central grid of four streets, Lacock today looks much like it did 200 years ago. Its oldest house is older than the thirteenth century abbey but since the loss of the village's main source of income from wool in the nineteenth century, new development has been minimal.
The name Lacock dates from Saxon times when the earliest permanent settles lived by the Bide Brook which runs through the middle of the village. They called it lacuc, or 'little stream'.
The medieval landscape was dominated by Melksham Forest which came right up the village and stretched for 33 miles to the south and east. Settlement began around the church, reflected in the irregular line of Church Street, but the rest is a medieval planned town, deliberately laid out on a grid of the other streets which can be seen today. There is much to see and enjoy once the events have finished!
There is a race specific car park for the event which costs £2 per car. As the event is not affiliated with the National Trust they have asked that runners do not park in the NT visitor car park which is reserved for Abbey visitors. Toilets and baby changing facilities are located by the Stables cafe, only 50 yards from the Abbey entrance and very close to the race start. There will be additional toilets brought on site by us, the race organisers, which we ask the runners use instead of the village toilets. There is a children's play area, National Trust shop and many great places to eat in this historic village.
Please note that whilst the National Trust village is playing host to the race, Lacock Abbey itself is a pay to enter attraction and there is much to see including the Abbey, Rose Garden, Orchard and Museum. Find our more about the village, places to stay and visit during your trip for the race on the Lacock website and visit Lacock website.
Register
This is a fully CLOSED ROADS event taking in the tranquil and picturesque lanes of the Wiltshire countryside and through the historic streets of Lacock itself. It is an ideal race for the first time runner and you can expect to post a good time on this flat course. The 10km and Half Marathon route officially measured accurate routes.
The race start on the village green opposite the Abbey. The route heads out of town and over some lovely stone bridges over the river Avon. There is a slight rise before the first turn coming in at 1km. Beautiful country roads wind round to the hamlet of Reybridge with lovely thatched roofed buildings lining the narrow streets.
Once through Reybridge the run will come back round to Lacock itself and run along the historic side streets as well as up and back along the main high street. This is a 1 lap course for the 5km, 2 laps for the 10km and 3 larger laps for the Half Marathon which has a larger looped section at Reybridge to ensure an accurate distance.
The 1km family run run will be an our and back along the main high street. The minimum age to run unaccompanied is 8 years old. Children younger than 8 are welcome to run it they are accompanied by an adult who is over the age of 18. There is no charge for adults accompany children, unless they wish to collect a medal, in which case we ask they register as usual.
Format
At present all our starts are individual, at 15-30 second intervals. Runners are generally seeded fastest to slowest to help spread people out across the course. The only exception is that a pair from the same household may run together on the basis that you run the whole event together and that you run in single file, not side by side.
All runners need to provide a predicted finish time to help us organise the start lists. This doesn't need to be too exact so don't worry if you think it might have changed come race day. If you wish to run as a household pair, or in the same wave of 30 when that is permitted, please select the same slightly obscure predicted finish time. Rather then selecting 50mins 0secs, select 50mins 1 sec for example.
We hope to shortly be able to offer waves of 30 runners starting every 10-15mins. These will be mixed ability waves. In time we hope to be able to get back to our usual wave size which is ~100 runners.
Notes
This event is suitable for buggy runners but please note there are a couple of narrow sections including a raised footpath without a fence. Many runners have run with buggies in the past, including double buggies, but please do take extra care. As we don't know the dimensions, wheel base, of your buggy we can not comment on the suitability of your buggy. This is event is not suitable for canicross.
There are no hidden booking or processing fees on top of the prices shown below. Please note on the day registrations are £2 extra. There are great group discount races for groups of 10 or more, the runners can cover any range of distances on race day. 10-19 runners save 15%, 20-49 runners save 20%, 50+ runners save 25%. All bookings must be made in advance of race day to qualify for the discounted rate. We ask that all group bookings are made at least four weeks before race day wherever possible so we have the opportunity to top up our medal order if necessary.
All our finishers receive a top of the range custom medal as well as a buffet of fresh fruit and other tasty treats. We also recognise a few of the speedy runners on the following basis.
Prize Categories
Top 3 male and top 3 female
First U20 male and female
First 20-39 male and female
First 40-49 male and female
First 50-50 male and female
First 60-69 male and female
First 70+ male and female
The final number of prizes awarded is determined by the number of finishers for each gender in a given race distance. If there are more than 100 finishers then the full range range of awards are made as shown above. If there are less than 50-100 finishers then the top 3 finishers overall will be awarded a prize. If there are less than 50 then only the winner will be awarded a prize. We do not have any winner's prizes for any of the children's events as would like to keep this participation focused.
There is no on the day prize giving because of the multi wave, multi start time format of the events. Prize winners will be contacted mid week via email.
Cancellation Policy
Whilst it feels like life is returning to normal, and we sincerely hope it is, there is the potential for further disruption which could come into play at any time. In this event we will still owe payment to our suppliers; medical cover, portaloos etc which we will honour. This means we will have to pay for these facilities twice, in full again on the rearranged date which will put a big hole in the funds. This does mean we won't be in a position to offer a refund.
In the event of a cancellation (local or national restrictions, bad weather etc) everyone will automatically roll over to our contingency date/race OR you can have a free transfer to a friend (within 7 days of the event postponement notice) OR you can email us within 7 days of the event postponement notice to let us know you can't make the back up date and you will be able to choose any other event in the following 15 months.
The automatic contingency date for this race is a bonus edition of the Two Tunnels held on 14th August 2021. This is because some racers who missed out on the 2020 event, may miss out again, so we want to offer a route to use their entry in 2021. The Two Tunnels races are flat, fast, accurately measured and on a tarmac surface so offer a very comparable race. If you don't want to run this event you can opt out as indicated above and hold your race open to use any time in the next 15 months.
Safe Race
We have approval from the Safety Advisory Group for Events (SAGE) for this new event format, which is hugely exciting, and we feel is a real testament to the seriousness that we approach our events. This SAGE is local version of the national team that advises the government on safety. On the board are Public Health England, police, ambulance service and all council departments within Bath and North East Somerset Council. This is the highest level of approval an event can receive, it serves as the strongest signal that an event can have that we are doing things right. Whilst you read the event plan below, some of the format will be new, some things have changed, but this is absolutely the only way an event can be held right now.
To keep inline with government guidance and our SAGE review, we have some easy to follow rules which I am sure you are all used to by now. Best summarised as; be socially distanced, apply hand wash/hand sanitiser and wear a face covering (not during your run), respect other users on the route. In more detail;
- Please do not attend the event if you have displayed any covid symptoms in the 14 days in the run up to the event.
- Please download the Track and Trace App to your phone...you know you will end up doing it eventually so lets do it now!
- If arriving by foot or bike, please aim to arrive with 30mins to spare before your start time. Please make your way from the race site 30mins after you finish your race.
- We are practising a 2m+ social distance policy, we have the luxury of space so we are going to make good use of it. One way systems will be in play with socially distanced markers on the floor where you might need to queue.
- If you see some hand sanitiser, please apply it.
- Gatherings of 6 may only take place away from the main race areas; please don't meet up by the start line, or the finish area. We have use of a large site :-)
- Spectators...confirmed spectators are not permitted. Sorry. In light of the recent announcements we felt this was the most appropriate course of action.
- We are not performing temperature checks pre race. If you do not feel well in any way, do not attend the event. Covid tests are not available on site.
- The course is largely on private land, with a few very quiet parts which are shared with to the public. As always, our definition of a successful event is one that our runners enjoy and one that the wider community enjoys. More so than ever, it is vital you respect the space of other users, there are far more significant matters at play here than chasing a new PB. Please give way to other users if you can not pass safely.
- The Relish staff will be wearing PPE; masks, gloves/hand sanitiser, visors or screens will be used when we need to work more closely with you and each other.
