Marshman 2010

Following on from the debut of "The Marshman " in 2009 i am pleased to announce that next years race will be on May 16th , based again at the excellent HQ of Action Watersports Centre at Lydd on the Romney Marshes.

This year not only will we be staging "The Marshman" which is the 1900 m swim , 92k bike and 21k run event, but there will be "The Marshman +" which will be 2600m swim , 130k bike and a 30k run , I have had many requests for a race of this distance as for full Ironman traning it takes you even closer. Then to round it off there will be "The Mini-Marshman" , a sprint race of 700m swim , 22k bike and a 6k run , ideal for an early season warm-up !

Full course details will be on the site soon and entries will be open from Friday 25th September.

The Marshman 09 went quite well considering it was the 1st time for the event and the fact that it is based in a field with some limited facilities across the road in the Action Watersports centre . The lake proved ideal for the swim with water temperature around 17o and with a depth of only 6-7ft its good for safety as well . Improvements for 2010 will include more and bigger marker bouys not only at the turns but also at the 200m and 400m sections on each cross of the lake . There will also be a minimum of 5 safety canooists plus the back up of Simon's powerboat if required .
Improvements in the transistion zone now include dispensing with the scaffolding for racking being replaced by lightweight alloy racking (those at the Sept race used this ) , much more room between racking and FULLY CARPETED from swim exit right up to the bike mount zone . For security and safety reasons the whole area to the right of the gates will now be competitor and officials only .
The bike course will stay pretty much as before , its a very fast course if you dont have a 20mph headwind to cycle into , it cover 3 existing time trial courses and as such traffic is fairly light as well . The main change will be that all 3 races will come back to transistion via Galloways Road which will ensure that cyclists are not crossing runners in Dengemarsh Road .
The finish was moved over to the HQ field for the September race and this proved very successful for both competitors and spectators with both wc's and refreshments close at hand . The luxury toilet blocks will all be back again as for many competitors these were definately the highlight of the race ! Changing facilities and registration will be in marquees in the HQ zone and camping will be avaible in the field for those who want to , showers and other wc's are available at Action Watersports as a back-up .
I expect that the Marshman + 1st swim wave will go off at 6.45 am with a 2nd wave following at 6.55 . The Marshman itself will go off at 7.10 and subsequent waves will follow . The sprint event swimmers will be off at aprox 8.10 . There are no cut-off times for any of the events .
Race limits are The Marshman = 250 , The Marshman + = 100 , The Mini - Marshman = 100 .

Accommodation

The area is well served by many guest houses , small hotels and self-catering units , i have included as many as possible within a 10 mile radius of HQ . Where possible i have given the website , if not the e-mail address or phone no.

www.thegeorgelydd.com (Lydd)

www.coxelhouse.co.uk (Lydd)

The Dolphin (Lydd) 01797 320259 Royal Mail (Lydd) 01797 320256

Rose and Crown (Lydd) 01797 367500 Chatsworth Lodge (Lydd) 01797 320410

www.white-horses-cottage.co.uk (New Romney) www.renaissancehotel.co.uk (New Romney) The Ship Hotel This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.broadacrehotel.co.uk (New Romney) www.star-in-the-marsh.co.uk

Honeychild Manor farm (St.Mary in the Marsh) 01797 366180 Pluto B+B 01797 320072

Romney Bay House Hotel 01797 364717 New Inn (New Romney) 01797 366773

www.poundfieldfarm.co.uk (Camber)

Self-Catering at either Camber Sands or Romney Sands use this link ; www.parkresorts.com/cambersands or www.park-resorts.com/romneysands

For general area information try www.romney-marsh.com

www.discoverfolkestone.co.uk

www.newromneyonline.co.uk