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Happy runners

Despite a cold early start there were a lot of happy faces at the finish line following Saturday’s second pairs race. For those not familiar with the format – this is a staggered start navigational running race, in pairs for company and safety, but also with kit. Also thanks to Tim Mockford we also had lead runner phone tracking.

Time is ticking

First team was away from Postbridge at 8:20 am and last team away at 9:45. Start times calculated from previous finish times – so fastest teams last. Route-cards for punching on the course given at start time – so any route prep in done in competitors time. there were lots of positive comments about how this made a really nice feature. Meant that in latter stages lots of team movement and interaction.

Route

A challenging 18.3k with about 600m of climb with not too many really difficult terrain spots. No doubt for those stalking the runners Strava feed then you will have seen the route. But for those that haven’t map below it was in good nick with many peaty bogs dried up- so faster than we anticipated.

Results

For results combined time for both races was used. well done to all the runners in both races. from feedback received we will repeat this format again from Nov 25 to Feb 26.

Second race results are at page https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=383282&did=505937

Fastest Overall

Jamie Parkinson and partner- 192mins both races!

Tim Lenton and Patrick Devine Wright (Axe valley) – 209mins both races

plus some very competitive teams on their heels

Fastest female team

Becky Prall (EVH) and partners – 347 mins

Sarah Holland and Caroline Stevens (TAC)- 376 mins

Fastest mixed pair ( very close)

Katie MCCullagh and partners (Haldon trail runners)- 273 mins

James and Helen Arding- 284 mins

Big thanks you’s

Firstly to all the runners the helpful camaraderie and Nav support to fellows was great to listen to. A special well done to ORC who turned out in force. To both the pubs for hosting us- Fox and Hounds and East dart Inn- a special thank you for donated beer! A big thank you to our 2 intrepid tails runners for both races ( below)- and our amazing Tim Mockford.

A donation will be made to NDSART following race with any proceeds.

hopefully see some of you at Belstone loop on sun 30th mar- no i didn’t realise this was mothers day ( dogh) – but it should be all done by 12.00.

See you on the hills

Tim, Richard and Colin

Wasn’t this clear on the day – many routes around were found

Race 1 – testy mist start

Well what a difference 12 hrs can make- an amazing weather window. The course was a real challenge to set up in Friday’s blowy deluge- but 8 markers did go out to test the navigation. A little challenge in the river below Kitty was impassable unless your wanted some grade 4 slalom canoeing- so a big diversion to essentially run the course twice 🙁 also yours truly should have taken a head torch as was out until 7pm. ( kit lessons!)

A cracking spring day..

We were fully booked with 24 pairs who were due to set off from 8:30 am for a challenging 10miles and 850m of climb. All teams had kit check which mostly was spot on. I can reiterate that it is only for your own safety if stuck or stranded when your petite shorts and skimpy top is not going to keep you warm. We ran staggered starts with slower estimates first and fastest last just to add some edge. Some early dense mist played a few tricks on the navigation with a few extending their course by 2k-4k. As we were tracking we could see some interesting route selection between Arms tor and the foot of Lints. Some great team running though with everyone staying friends.

results

Results are https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=381313…

Three pairs getting under 2 hours – very tough in these conditions. Jamie Parkinson and Ben Perry taking the honours , followed by Patrick Devine-Wright and Tim for Axe Valley Runners; then and an Okehampton Running Club (ORC) pairing. First mixed pair to Haldon Trial runners; first female team to Becky Prall and Louise from Chagford Runners. Some great Tavistock Athletic Club (TAC) performances with Rob Jinman paired with Joe Lane ; Heather Fell and partner; and the indefeatable pairing of Sarah Holland and Caroline Steven.

the vibe

There was some great running and some interesting and at times humourous navigation. But the post race cameraderie was fab choices of footwear, biggest bum slides, deepest bog dip, and route selection and all were being enthusiastically discussed.

Ps some interest in Dartmoor Trail & Fell Running Services nav courses expressed!

A special thanks to our trio of marshals Helen Perry-Smith; Bev and Iain. plus superb Tim Mockford the tech genius who enabled .tracking the whole way through. hansk to the runners for some superb results and banter.

Coming up

Next race is Mar 15th – still looking for a half way marshal – winter pairs part 2 – starts Ppostbridge.

next race for summer series is Mar30th ( yes march! also Devon seniors selection- can we get a female team this year for intercounties?)- open for entries tonight

see you on the hills

Richard Best Tim Mockford and Colin Kirk Potter

Lead runner listed only please ensure you are at kit check 5 mins before.

This is for use once you have registered for the event via entry central – not before. However, do this before Saturday!

For this race we are using Webscorer’s option to both track and time runners via the GPS in the phones.

1. Got to Webscorer and register both for a Webscorer account and for the event, here – https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=380610
2. Enter the pair details on the Webscorer page as directed. Male pairs choose male as gender, female choose female and mixed choose male / female
3. Each pair needs to carry at least one phone, switched on, for the tracking and timing to work. The phone will need to have both mobile data and GPS switched on.
4. On the phone which is going to be carried, go the app store and download the Webscorer app. It is free.
5. Sign in with the Webscorer account created in step 1.
6. On the app, you will now be able to go to GPS self -tracking, my upcoming races and see the race there.

It is really important you do not run up and down the track to the moor to warm up before starting with your phone. The GPS timing kicks in from 50m to the moor gate, any time from 8am onwards.

FAQs

• Will I be charged for this? No
• How much mobile phone data will this use? Less than loading the BBC homepage
• Will this drain my phone’s battery? No – we have set the app to send you location once a minute
• Do I have to do this? Yes
• What happens if I don’t have signal all the way around the course? You won’t have signal all the way around the course. The app will store the location data and transmit it when it can.
• Can I see where I’ve been afterwards? Yes, this will be published alongside the results.
• I’m stuck and need help! Email Tim Mockford

We hope to provide a brilliant Dartmoor Series again for 2025, so we have provisionally set the dates for the following races. ( links and details will follow). Remember to get the Dartmoor Series diary dates for 2025 in your planner! More info on general fell running can be found on FRA site https://www.fellrunner.org.uk/faq/frequently-asked-questions

• Sun March 30th 10am – Belstone loop and Devon AA senior only Champs – RB R/O
• April – Junior only series race and Devon AA champs – Venue TBC R/O CKP/TM.
• All other races have juniors and seniors unless stated
• Sat May 17th Meldon Race _ ORC R/O
• Sat May 24th Langstone Fell race (Peter Tavy) TRP R/O
• Weds Even 18th June _ Solstice Fell race Merrivale CKP R/O
• Sat 21st June – 27th Burrator Horseshoe Classic – Meavy RB R/O
• Sun 6th July – Cosdon fell race and village fair – Belstone ORC R/O
• Weds even 6th August – Ivybridge 3 tops – EVH R/O
• Weds Even 20th August – Great links tor Flyer- Bridestowe RB R/O
• Sat even 6th Sept Haytor Heller _ classic – TT R/O ( seniors only)
• Sat 13th Sourton fell race – Sourton series finale – ORC R/O
• Presentation and talks evening Fri 26th Sept Meavy village Hall ( TBC)
• Check out last years results if you want to compare https://swfellrunners.uk/results/ but remember to get the Dartmoor Series diary dates for 2025 into your planner.

Mini winter pairs series!

We are hoping to hold three races as a Mini winter pairs series for limited entries only ie 25 pairs of runners.

These will be longer races , with kit requirement and experience required. Firm dates now set ; Sat 22nd Feb- fox and hounds start , Sun Mar 16th east dart hotel start..

A new format which will offer distance and navigational challenge with defined start times based on handicap start ( based on estimated times) .

Minimum kit will be full body cover plus spare top, plus hat, gloves, full water proofs, survival bag ( each), small first aid kit, whistle ,compass ,map, headtorch , phone ( as we will enable tracking), plus 500ml water and small emergency rations. Same for everyone _ not kit no start – it will be checked.

See you on the hills

Richard, Tim and Colin

A brilliant result in what must be our best to date showing at the Fell intercounties held in Rossendale on June 9th. here are a few photos of the brilliant runners and Hayley – the Junior Team managers report.

Race report

A huge thank you to the parents and an enormous cheer to the nine young athletes who represented Devon at the UK Junior Fell Running Championships in Rossendale on Sunday 9th June.

Getting there..

Many travelled straight from the Exeter Arena Track where they were racing in the Devon Schools Championships, up north to near Manchester where we met at well-known hotel chain with an elitist name for our pre-race dinner. The camaraderie was immense from the very start of organising this team, with many messages offering lifts, kit , room shares etc .so it was great to finally meet the parents and share a drink.

The next day we travelled another 40 minutes further north in a convoy of Devon cars and arrived in Rossendale to be greeted by a cold wind and a quite a bit of rain. Why did we leave sunny Devon behind ?

Tough course

After walking the course and drying out a bit the U15s warmed up, the rain stopped, kit was checked and they were under starters orders. Boys and girls ran together – it was a brutal up and back course. A sharp 180m incline over the first km then a slight reprieve for 500m then another 500m incline up to the trig point at Cowpe Lowe (440m) only to turn around and head back down the incredibly fast decent to the finish. Devon was well represented.

U15 Girls Great team

The U15 girls Devon’s team included Elsie Goodspeed, Scarlett Muscott and Grace Gokhale. They put up a brave battle and finished 18th, 31st and 33rd out of over 50 female runners making then 6th team.

U15 Boys – the national champions!

Leo Dallmeier Cottle and Tim Falle formed our U15 boys team. Leo looked a bit bemused as after 300m he was right up at the front. He continued this form up the first super steep hill and onto the second hill where he turned at the trig point in 2nd place. Despite this being his second ever fell run Leo managed to hold his position down the v slippery treacherous decent and crossed the line in a superb second pace. Tim was on his heels and battled in for to cross the line in 4th place. However, shortly after the race ended it was announced that the winner was disqualified for not carrying  all of the mandatory kit for the whole race – it was later confirmed he had passed kit to a spectator on the way up and collected it on his return. A rookie error for an experienced fellow runner which cost him his victory. This promoted the Devon boys into first place and third place and the maths isn’t hard – they also won the team prize. DEVON were FIRST and THIRD U15 BOYS and DEVON WON the U15 BOYS TEAM PRIZE! What an amazing achievement from two young fell runners in their first big fell running championships. 

U17 Boys Promise

Our U17 Boys did not disappoint either – their race involved the initial 180m climb over 1k followed by an undulating trail for about 2k then a brutal climb to the cross on Scout Moor – 100m ascent over a distance of 500m. Talk about dead legs at the top ! It was then straight back down , along the trail and then down again to the finish. Although the rain had now stopped the down hill sections were pretty tricky underfoot! Luke Hayes finished a superb 7th, Theo Glew (in his first fell run this season ) was 12th and Aiden Spinney (who did the whole event hard core by camping the night before while we all stayed in a hotel ) was 38th. Great running which meant Devon U17 boys were 5th team. All three runners have another year in this age group so we hope we can build on these results next year.

U19 solo runner

Finally, Luke Stannus was our only U19 Devon. His 8.5 km course included was a combination of both U15 and U17 routes so it included all three of the hills. In a highly competitive race, and nursing a foot injury, Luke finished superbly to take 12th place, especially as he still has another year in this age group.

Managers thoughts..

It was a truly wonderful weekend. I’m so proud of our young runners who have helped put Devon the fell running map. It was great to hear other spectators commenting – who is that team in Blue – as our runners took on the course and challenged the best fell runners in the UK. 

By all accounts it was a particularly tough course even for fell runners – so we can certainly hold our heads high and look forward to the next one. Hopefully we can get a few along to English Schools fell running championships at the end of the summer and keep on building on the successes of this weekend. But for now let’s congratulate our runners (and parents for getting them their) and keep on encouraging and supporting our juniors so we help them develop into the top fell runners I know they have the potential to become.  It was an honour to be part of the weekend. Thank you Hayley Ratcliff 

SWFellrunners says..

An amazing result. Firstly congrats to the runners for the effort in the race and the determination to train and give up a weekend to represent Devon. I would like to think that the series of races we have created for juniors, 8- races now, is helping build our community of hill runners. Next the parents and families – its a huge commitment not just in time but also in money – you are superb. Lastly Hayley the awesome team manager well done. lots more to be seen form these Devon runners – i wonder if you can spot them in the next series races?

See you on the hills

Richard , Tim and Colin

Things are hotting up literally – just wish someone would tell the rain that! Three races now complete in the series with Gt Mis tor; Meldon and Langstone now all complete. Some great results and a few course records . Hope you enjoy John’s race report below and a couple of photos hope to get a report on Langstone.

Meldon – Race report and results

Well this is not the view they got as thunderstorms approached but lets hear the Race report – From Okehampton Running Club

Saturday 18th May, the first fell race of Okehampton Running Club Summer Series and the second race of the SW Fell Runners Series took place. Marilyn’s Meldon Madness was held in honour of Marilyn Cooper, former member of the club. Again this year the club was delighted to welcome five-time Olympian Jo Pavey and Marilyn’s son Peter who joined the race and presented the awards alongside Marilyn’s husband, Paul. There was a great turnout for the two junior races with 19 competitors across the age groups and this year was run as qualifiers for the Intercounty Championships. The U11’s ran a 2km course up the steep Longstone Hill and back down to the Dam where they started. The U15’s ran a 4km course heading further on to the base of Yes Tor before returning to the finish.

Seniors- storm chasers

The Senior race started in a thunderstorm though fortunately it soon cleared! The route heads up to the summits of Yes Tor and High Willhays and returning to Meldon Dam via Black Tor. A challenging and technical course including sections of bogs, boulder fields, tussock grass, hidden holes and sheep trods- type 1 fun! The runners are rewarded with a super fast descent on springy grass to the finish!

Overall winner and ORC runner was Luke Stannus in just 37:52 (MU19). There were 6 Juniors running in the Senior race with 4 finishing in the top 5 spots. After the race the competitors received their prizes from the Cooper family and Jo Pavey and were delighted to have their photos taken with her. New ORC member Sarah Dean was awarded the Marilyn Memorial Bowl as first ORC female home. It was a lovely afternoon’s racing with the post-race cakes going down well!

SWfellrunners says.. Very competitive race with first 8 runners in a gap of less than 2 mins, the lead apparently changing many times but in form U19 Luke Stannus just beating James Baker from Chichester by 12 secs. Only 1 senior man in top 5 with 3 u17’s taking 3rd, 4th and 5th – watch out seniors think you may have to up your game! Great to see Charlotte Walker (TAC) continue her form setting a new ladies record for the course in 41m50 sec. Also a fab spicing up of the V50 ladies with Jo Pavey taking the win in her first race of the series.

Team results out soon , as will be Langstone race report.

Senior results below or go to tab on this site. Enjoy.

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=352271