I know that there have been rumors of the Bethel Spring Series demise and I’m writing to confirm that, yes, it’s true.

There will not be a Bethel Spring Series in 2015.

However, that does not mean there won’t be a Spring Series somewhere in Connecticut. It just means that it won’t be at Bethel. Ultimately the park is getting too busy to host a race series. A one day event is potentially possible but not a series of races over several weeks.

Venue

This means finding a new venue. I may be able to hold two races at one venue (meaning two weeks). However my goal would be to have a total of six races.

I need help finding and securing a venue for two to four weeks.

Comments

If you, your teammates, your friends, your family, if anyone you know has had a good experience at the Bethel Spring Series, please let me know. You can comment here (if you want to keep it private just say at the beginning of the comment “please don’t post this”). All comments get approved through me. You can always directly contact me as well using akira then underscore then sato then the Yahoo mail suffix.

I’m asking for this for a couple reasons. The main one is to try and convince a generic venue commission/board/etc that the Series is a good thing and that they should let us race there.

The second reason is to try and secure a sponsor. With the races losing money sort of consistently I’ve had to rely on cash sponsorship to reduce the deficit, and I need to find new sponsors since the current one doesn’t have need to sponsor a race in central Connecticut. I’ll be releasing numbers (for the first time) at some point this fall to illustrate the need for sponsorship.

Race at Bethel

I do want to hold a race at Bethel but I don’t know how to make that work. I’ll have to figure it out but it may be that it has to fall on a major holiday, like July 4th or Labor Day. Hopefully the retail stores will be closed and this will allow us to use the course. With the Markus Bohler Memorial, the history of the race, I don’t want to leave it behind. However to make a race happen will be very hard and I realize that the turnout will be smaller than normal for a national holiday.

The Town of Bethel Has Supported The Race, Always

Finally I want to point out that the Town of Bethel has been extremely supportive throughout this decision process. They encouraged me to finish out the 2014 Series before making any kind of decisions. They said that the race helps define a part of Bethel – the Spring Series has been a trademark race for over 20 years, and it’s one of the biggest Spring Series in New England. They’ve been supportive of the races from the beginning and they’ve never been difficult, and in fact I think they’ve been very forgiving.

At this point this is what I need from all of you that enjoyed the Bethel Spring Series over the years:

1. Comments/notes about what you found enjoyable about the Series. This is for venue application processes and sponsorship search stuff.

2. Thoughts on alternate venues. Ideal locations are in Connecticut, close to highways (5-10 minutes max), have a closable loop with just one entrance/exit, decent pavement, parking, and a less challenging/technical course. It should be plowed in the winter by someone (town if a road, by land owners if private like a mall access road). I need them to be between Bethel and Hartford. I can’t afford to go further away from home (I live slightly north of Hartford).

3. Thoughts on sponsors, including if you want to be a sponsor.

4. Opinion on July 4th vs Labor Day for a race at Bethel. If one date seems to make sense more than another let me know. I really don’t want to compete with the retail traffic, if you will.

Ultimately I want to recreate a Spring Series, even if it takes a year or three. In the meantime I want to get something together for 2014, even if it’s a bit more limited in terms of weeks-of-racing.

Thanks,

Aki