In a mad, mad moment and after weeks of being nagged by certain Musketeers into doing the longest race of my life – I signed up for it.
And have now done the 32-miles of unrelenting hills on the Dartmoor Discovery. Unbelievably other Musketeers, who should all be proud of themselves, also signed up for one of the toughest long-distance races in the SW and completed it magnificently.
Newcomers to the race, a marathon and six more miles, were Guy B, Dave M, Richie M, Neil W and Sharon A.
In finishing order were Guy, Dave, Richie, Neil, Bryan K, Darren D and Sharon – with Darren and DD veteran Bryan shepherding Sharon home.
Richie looked strong when he finished as did Dave with his past Army training having given him great foundation fitness. Neil finished with a wide grin on his face as ever, but did struggle. Sharon seemed fresher than her esteemed escorts of Bryan and Darren. She seemed most impressed at the number of calories the run had burned off, other than that Sharon did not seem to be making much sense and I suspect the exercise had done strange things to her brain.
The exercise certainly did horrible things to two of my toes which did not take kindly to being rammed against the end of my shoes for hours on end. I was surprisingly energetic at the end and I put that down to top advice from a veteran of ten DDs.
The best advice was to walk up a lot of the long hill up and out of Ashburton, which I did and was very grateful to the runner for helping me to ignore my instinct which is to run up every hill. He said that to pace yourself was the secret to finishing the last six miles or so fresh enough to run past numerous others who were having difficulty finishing and it worked a treat.
The other advice was to drink and eat regularly. I am used to getting away with not drinking much on shorter races and not having those horrible gels on longer runs, but that is impossible to get away with on marathons and longer.
My other secret weapon was Penny H-B’s meals-on-wheels, including fruit and nut choc and nutty bars and a Mars Bar and encouraging whoops and shrieks from her and Louise K as they followed us round. It was also great to see Kev W on his bike, he not only cycled to and from Princetown but rode the route with us.
On the way there was also much support and banter with running chums from the Tamar and Teignbridge Trotters and Bere Alston and Tavistock clubs vente de viagra en tunisie.
The race started in Princetown, and followed a route passing through Dartmeet, Poundsgate, Newbridge, Ashburton, Buckland in the Moor, Widecombe in the Moor, and Postbridge, before making its way back to finish in Princetown. To view a map of the route click here.
We experienced everything Dartmoor could offer, from stunning views, beautiful scenery, wild ponies, unpredicdiv weather and of course those infamous hills! The course was not easy and was a great way to test you both mentally and physically!
This is a very well organised race with 10 feeding stations on the course, 9 of which allow you to deposit your own personal drinks prior to the start of the race. Rewards include a race shirt and medal, and self-satisfaction and free cake and drinks.
The race has a cut off time of 6 1/2 hours, this equates to an average of 12 minute miling pace. There will be 3 check points on the course, each carrying it’s own cut off time, they are as follows; 13 miles (Ashburton) 2 hrs 40 minutes, 20 miles (Ruddlestone Inn) 4 hrs, 26.2 miles (Marathon) 5 hrs 15 minutes.
I am happy to say all the Musketeers were well within 6.5 hours after which they ask you to stop running. Another milestone for a club gaining in experience, which can only be good for all. I am sure there are some other Musketeers with mad moments coming on!
By Guy