Gutsy running gives great times
A great start to the Dartmoor Series on Saturday am Mar23rd at Princetown. With kind permission of the brewery we organised the race out of the back of a car- which given the weather was just as well. The conditions were raw with a basic 5deg further chilled by 35-40 knot head wind for the outward leg.
A small but talented field of 40 runners set off at 10am prompt, with kit, straight up North Hessary, already two small groups of 5 were breaking clear at the top with no need to yomp. Thankfully although blowing hard the rain /hail held off for most of the course. The leading packs making short work of the drop to Hollow tor and then up to Little mis. All runners made the cut off time at Little mis. Careful footwork by leading pack now Parkinson, Roberts and Deller puling away from the following pair.
Big ascent
The big climb from the weir head on the Walkham probably made a huge impact on times and positions, the leader Jamie Parkinson pulling away from Luke and Sam. Further down the field, skipping across clitter was costing more time and maintaining pace up to the lookout really challenging (+220m). The marshal at the lookout and dog Ozzy enduring a real battering from the wind was relieved to see last runner and sweeper through.
Descent with following wind
The times for all runners back was remarkable with 3 ascents done, a helpful push on the back of 35 knots was greatly appreciated, down to the road and sweeping them up to Hollow tor and onwards to North Hessary. At last a final short descent , which apparently was very hard to stay on your feet.
Super congrats to winner Jamie Parkinson in an incredible time of 49mins 25sec with both chasing runners in the next 2 mins. First U21 a brilliant 57 mins from James Palmer who had travelled all the way from Somerset to compete. First lady Elizabeth Dyson a very respectable 64mins 7sec. First team, goes to Tavistock Ac but chased hard by a strong ORC team.
Camaraderie
Great banter at the end with most runners staying to clap in the last runner and sweep. Banana fuelled recovery for all. Really great to listen to the comparisons on lines taken, where they had gained or lost position, niggles gained, mini rivalries won and lost. A pretty unanimous appreciation of the course which on map looked simple but had 4 nice but different climbs. A good selection race for Devon intercounties candidates who will be competing in Keswick on April 21st.
A super thank you to all involved runners, spectators and of course our marshals who may have needed thawing out.
Full results are available here
https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=346399
Load of photos from our Marshals in our newsfeed.
Brilliant thank you all
See you on the Hills
Richard Best and Tim Mockford