Athlete Guide · Sunday, September 13, 2026
Stiles Pond · Boxford, Massachusetts. Net proceeds support the Boxford Athletic Association Scholarship, established in memory of Captain Richard J. Cashin. Thank you for racing with us — read this guide before Sunday morning. It answers almost everything.
Download PDFThe Times That Matter
6:45 AM
Registration opens, and so does transition.
7:45 AM
Registration closes.
7:55 AM
Transition closes. Bike racked, gear laid out.
8:00 AM
Pre-race ceremony & briefing at the beach.
Sunday, September 13
Times in flame orange are hard cutoffs.
| Time | What & Why |
|---|---|
| 6:45 AM |
Registration and transition open
Timing chips are issued here. The last twenty minutes are always the busiest — come before them, not during.
|
| 7:45 AM | Registration closes |
| 7:55 AM |
Transition area closes
No entry after this until the first athlete returns from the bike.
|
| 8:00 AM |
Pre-race ceremony & race briefing
The reason we're all here, followed by everything you need to know about the course. Please gather on the beach.
|
| 8:30 AM |
Wave 1 enters the water
Waves follow every 3 minutes — see the wave table below.
|
| 8:48 AM | Final wave (relay teams) |
| 9:15 AM | First finishers expected |
| 10:15 AM |
Awards ceremony
Expected time — we start once the final finisher is in. Transition reopens for bike retrieval when the course is clear.
|
| 11:00 AM |
Course closes · site breakdown
Please collect all your gear. Anything left behind goes to lost and found.
|
There is no Saturday check-in this year. Everything happens race morning, in one hour, for the whole field. That is why arriving early matters more than any single time on this list.
Getting There
Keith Koster Park, 1 Stiles Pond Road, Boxford, MA 01921
Stiles Pond Road is narrow and residential. It is the only way in and the only way out, and it will be full of athletes walking bikes. Please plan to arrive early — it can take time to get from parking to registration.
Race Morning
6:45–7:45 AM Sunday at the beach. There is no Saturday check-in.
Bring a photo ID. Registration was online only — there is no walk-up registration and no bib transfers or substitutions.
Individuals: your bib is not worn on the swim. On the bike it should face backward; on the run it should face forward. The simplest fix is a race belt — clip it on in transition and spin it around. If you're using pins, pin the bib to the front of your shirt; the finish line camera and the announcer both read the front.
Relay teams: the bib is worn by the runner only, and it stays on them all morning. Pin it or belt it on before the race starts. It is not left at the rack, and it is not passed between legs — your swimmer and cyclist race without one. The cyclist is body marked instead.
Body marking this year is only for relay cyclists. If you are riding the bike leg for a team, a volunteer will write your team's bib number on your left arm and left calf, so course marshals can identify you out on the road — you'll be the one rider without a bib.
Please come to the table with your left arm and left calf free of sunscreen; marker doesn't stick to it. Apply sunscreen afterward. Nobody else needs to be marked.
Don't Lose This
Rented ankle-strap chips. Every one has to come back.
You'll receive a timing chip on a velcro ankle strap at registration. It records your swim, bike, run and finish splits as you cross the mats.
Relay teams share one chip, passed from leg to leg. Every exchange happens at your team's racked bike position — nowhere else.
Not on the beach, not at the mount line, not in the finish chute — at the rack. Take the extra seconds to fasten the strap properly; a chip that falls off mid-leg means your team has no result. Every other athlete wears their own chip for the entire race.
Return Your Chip at the Finish
These chips are rented, and every one that walks home costs the scholarship fund money. Volunteers will be waiting immediately past the finish line to take it off your ankle — stop and let them.
If you drop out at any point, you still have to return the chip. Bring it to the finish line or to the timing tent. Unreturned chips carry a replacement fee.
A missing chip also means no result, so this is in your interest as much as ours.
Rack Smart
Opens 6:45 AM · closes 7:55 AM sharp
Helmet rule. Your helmet must be on your head with the chin strap buckled before you touch your bike, and it stays buckled until the bike is racked again at the end.
Into the Water
Seven waves, three minutes apart, 8:30 to 8:48.
| Wave | Start | Group |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:30 AM | 39 and under — men |
| 2 | 8:33 AM | 39 and under — women |
| 3 | 8:36 AM | 40–49 — men |
| 4 | 8:39 AM | 50–59 — men |
| 5 | 8:42 AM | 40–59 — women |
| 6 | 8:45 AM | 60 and over — men & women |
| 7 | 8:48 AM | Relay teams |
Waves are for the swim start only. Awards are still scored by age group — Under 20, 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60+, men and women separately. Only wave 5 covers more than one award group, so sharing a wave with someone does not mean you are competing against them.
Age group is your age on December 31, 2026 — the standard convention. If you're on the boundary, that's the number that counts.
Volunteers will gather each group at the water's edge and send it on its way, so there's no need to watch the clock. Stay somewhere near the beach after the ceremony, listen for your wave, and join it when it's called. If you end up going with a later group, no harm done — everyone is scored on chip time, from the moment you start to the moment you finish, so your race is your own regardless of when you get in.
Nervous about the swim? Start at the back and to the outside of your wave. The pond is small, the loop is buoyed, and there are kayakers at every corner. You are allowed to hold a kayak or a buoy to rest — that is not a penalty and it does not end your race. It is only a DNF if you accept forward propulsion.
Know the Route
A short, honest sprint. Rolling, shaded, and over before you've stopped being nervous.
A clockwise loop around two turn buoys, starting and finishing at the town beach — 400 yards, or sixteen lengths of a 25-yard pool. Fresh water, no current, sandy entry and exit. Kayakers and a safety boat are stationed on the buoy line for the whole swim.
Water temperature in mid-September typically runs in the low 70s °F. Wetsuits are permitted and most people wear one — they're legal and they float you. Actual temperature will be announced at the briefing.
A counterclockwise loop on rolling Boxford back roads. Traffic is light but the roads are open — police and marshals cover the turns, but you are responsible for riding as though a car may appear, because one may.
Stay right, ride single file, and call your passes. The surface is generally good with a few patched sections; watch for sand in the corners after a dry week.
View Interactive Route
An out-and-back along Stiles Pond Road, mostly shaded, with a volunteer at the turnaround. You'll be running toward finishers coming the other way — keep right, and give the fast ones room.
There are no water stops on the course. Not on the bike, not on the run, not at the turnaround. Carry a bottle on your bike and drink it — 1.5 miles is short, but it is short at the end of a race. Water is available at the finish.
See the interactive course maps on the home page.
Play It Straight
Short list. All of it is enforceable.
Those last two aren't housekeeping. We race on public roads through people's front yards, and we're guests at a town beach that lets us use it once a year. Both of those things depend entirely on how we leave the place.
Three Athletes, One Bib
Ten teams, 27 athletes. One bib and one chip per team, wave 7 at 8:48 AM.
Pack It Tonight
Lay it out Saturday night. Nobody has ever regretted packing the night before.
Leave at home: anything valuable. Transition is monitored but not secured, and there is nowhere to lock a bag.
Cheer Squad
Rain or Shine
The race goes on in rain. It will be modified or cancelled only for lightning, dangerous water conditions, or unsafe roads. Any change will be announced on the race website and by email as early as we can make the call — and at the venue by the race director.
A typical mid-September morning in Boxford starts around 55–60°F and warms into the 70s. Bring a layer for the hour you'll spend standing around in a wet swimsuit before your wave.
With Gratitude
This race exists because our Gold and Silver sponsors put their name behind it too — see the full list on the home page.
BOXFORD ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Net proceeds from today's race go to the Boxford Athletic Association Scholarship, established in memory of Captain Richard J. Cashin.
And to every volunteer standing on a corner, in a kayak, or behind a table this morning — thank you. There is no race without you.
Every entry supports the Boxford Athletic Association Scholarship in memory of Captain Richard J. Cashin. Thank you for being here. Race safe.
On race morning, ask any volunteer in a race shirt.
