Cotswold Way Relay

Welcome to the organiser’s pages for the Cotswold Way Relay

On these pages you will find all the information required to get a team in place for the event. Information will be increased and updated towards race day.

THE EVENT

The Cotswold Way Relay is now in its 27th year, operated as 10 back-to-back races, starting each stage with a mass start at the expected arrival time of the 1st runner from the previous stage.

Running from Chipping Campden in the early morning, through to the arrival at Bath Abbey in the early evening, using the waymarked route of the Cotswold Way as our route, the relay is over 90% off-road, taking in many hills, woodlands, fields and tracks, all offering spectacular views of the countryside around (if ever a runner looked up from the path to take it in!). We split the route up into 10 varied stages, varying in ascent and length, to offer a differing flavour for each runner in the team. There are no marshals on the route, so route finding is all part of the spirit of the event. In recent years the Cotswold Way Authority has considerably improved the signage on route, as part of its upgrade to National Trail status, but there’s always one or two who speed past a sign to take time to appreciate some countryside off the main route. The race route follows the National Trail precisely, with the exception of the end of Stage 7 into Wotton-under-Edge, where we avoid the High St for safety reasons.

Many runners do a recce of their stage before the event, others fall in behind someone else. Most runners find that doing a recce through the beautiful Cotswolds in the company of other runners is all part of the great pleasure derived from this event. You will certainly observe more of the views during the recce than in the race.

The applications for Teams opened on the 5th February and closed on the 18th March, the list of 2019 team entrants are below