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...an Exeter 35-miler
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Dear, erm...well, Everybody at
Ten Tors
I would just like to say how amazing the entire event was, and what a
spectacular time we all had. This was my first time on the expedition,
and the organisation, team work and general keen spiritedness of
everybody involved was wonderful to see.
Having completed several training walks, myself and my team all thought
that we knew what we were up aginst, but nothing truly prepares you for
the harshness of the moor - we are very grateful to the event
organisers and our team managers for giving us all the training and
encouragement we needed. I would like to say a special thank you to our
team leader, who inspite of tiredness, aches and blisters was able to
keep herself and her team going through good times and bad ones.
The expedition was a unique opportunity for us to test ourselves
against the elements and terrain of Dartmoor, and we are so very lucky
to have shared in the experience with so many others - despite moments
of tiredness and discomfort, I can assure you that we will be back next
year!
Yours,
A 35-miler from Exeter
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The Irregulars
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Ten Tors 2010 - The
50th!!
It all started back in November, and as those late night conversations
sometimes go, this one ended in my older brother and I deciding to do
Ten Tors again, but this time - in just one day. It seemed like
the perfect excuse to meet up for a weekend and get some quality family
time, but what I didn't remember was quite how difficult Ten Tors was,
or quite how far 35 miles looked!! I was lucky enough to find a
mate foolish enough to want to join me on some training walks.
Inevitably he took part in the event with us too and we put together 4
or 5 training walks/runs to find a bit of fitness and try and remember
the moor so the navigating wasn't so much of an issue come the big
day. It all went fairly well but training was broken up due to a
mixture of broken ribs, blisters and muscular injuries all of which
were unfortunately on my part! So we managed to crack out a 20
mile jog as our furthest session before the big day, which didn't seem
too bad until we chose to do route A and found out we would be doing
38.4 miles on the day!
Loaded up with every type of energy bar/gel/powder/tablet and
painkiller known to man we set out from the army camp about an hour
before the other teams set off. The first few miles were pretty
stress free and seriously funny as we enjoyed the suprised look on a
whole lot of army faces. The phrase 'you guys aren't.. umm.. doing ten
tors are you??!' came up more times than we could count! The
training was all helping us keep up a decent pace and as we reached the
first tor we realised we were ahead of our estimated time which boosted
morale phenominally! One of the main reasons we kept good pace
was the time we'd poured into planning the route and using every
handrail that we could to help guide us round, the other reason was
solely my brother aka navigator of the year 2010!! We didn't
stray off the route once and having made a bunch of errors on the
training walks before hand, me and Dave (the foolish mate) were stunned
and amazed when we realised he'd only looked at the map once the whoe
time we were up there.
So basically we managed to get to the half way mark with a mixture of
running and walking as fast as our legs would go, the second
half..however, wasn't quite so easy!! I was having issues with my
right foot and soon Dave was struggling with his knee.. Not as plain
sailing as we thought! When we finally saw the first set of Ten
Torsee's we were approaching black tor and the end seemed a distance
away, but the steady stream of people kept up our spirits up and we
pushed on through great mis and lynch.
The leg from lynch to kitty is just as i remember - a nightmare!
I can't remember how we did it all those years ago, even a few years
on, and probably a lot fitter than the guys doing it, we only had day
sacks, meanwhile everyone else was wearing huge 60litre bags with
tents, cookers, wet weather gear AND the rest! Although having
done it myself, I still hold up my hand and am impressed with anyone
that can do it. All the guys and girls that did it this
year, congratulations, you're pretty amazing!!
This is how we did:
Watern
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Lower
White
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Beardown
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S
Hessary
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Hartor
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Black
Tor
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Great
Mis
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Lynch
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Kitty
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Oke
Tor
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Finish
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7:05
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8:27
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8:54
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9:55
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10:43
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12:00
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13:00
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13:49
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15:27
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16:50
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17:42
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We finished the walk at a 'steady' pace, losing an hour off our time in
the last two tors, the 38.4 miles took their toll and I could barely
walk for the next few days. I've never been so pleased to see my
bed!
As for doing it again, I can't imagine I would be able to do 45 and
obviously that's the next likely milestone right?!? Well, never
say
never, but I hope my brother isn't holding his breath for next
year!
Maybe a simpler option like paintballing might be on the cards!!
Again, congrats to the teams that did it this year, I couldn't walk 20
metres the next day, and you did, so well done!
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| J1013
STURMINSTER NEWTON HIGH SCHOOL (35) |
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Well what can we say?! Our first
Ten Tors, the 50th anniversary & it was amazing!!
We got a full English breakfast Saturday morning, damn was that good! :D
Saturday morning, set off! WOOO HOOO! We got wet, good old bogs haha.
Was very cold at times but the atmosphere was what got us through!
Thank you sooooo much to all the organisers & to our trainers;
Nigel, Mike, Maxine, Jon & Sam for helping us through all the
intense training. Without you guys we wouldn’t be the team we are
today, were like a family! :D
Definitely worth it & we’ll see you next year!!
Lots of Love…
Abi (Aka Big Mama) & Anna (Aka Dumper lmao) J
P.S
We have some hilarious!!! Memories.
A few little tips! –
- NEVER call an RAF
officer an ‘Army Man’… they get offended!
- When going to the toilet on Dartmoor, remember BOG ROLL IS
NECESSARY!
- Always start a Mexican wave waiting in line for
scrutineering (it made our weekend).. & OGGY OGGY OGGY, OIOIOI!
- Sing really cheesy songs on the way! It cheers everyone up.
- Remember whoever is at the back is working 3 times as hard
as you! Let them go to the front and give them support, they’re
probably struggling & need spirit!
- ENJOY IT!!!! Don’t cry! The feeling at the end is
indescribable!
THANKS TO ABI’S PARENTS FOR THE
BANNERS! “GO GO SNHS!” really helped us keep going! & “WELL DONE SNHS” made us feel great
at the end :D
LOVE YOU ALL GAZILLIONS!
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| Z2614
TEIGNBRIDGE DISTRICT EXPLORER SCOUTS (55) |
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Well, that was hard work, but
boy was it worth it!
As a first-time 55er, it was bound to be tough, and it was! Route
Z…what on earth makes you guys in charge walk such a route? What were
you thinking when you planned it?
Still, with a very respectable finish time of 14:44, Z2614, more commonly known as
Teignbridge District Scouts, put out a “superb” performance, and well
done to us all! I know I enjoyed it, and my feet seem to have almost
returned to their usual size, colour and shape! I’m so proud of us
guys, we weren’t 55ers for nothing!
After a somewhat wet Saturday, we camped at Pupers Hill. Quite why we
chose to pitch our tent with a ditch approximately 10cm deep and 20cm
wide running down the middle I will never know. Strong winds didn’t
stop our tired team from sleeping until 4:30am, fresh as a daisy for
Sunday!
Perhaps as the navigator it was my fault, but does anyone know about
the large bog between the Teign and Watern Tor? Well, we now know about
it as well. (Of course, I planned to go into it to enhance the Dartmoor
experience, yes, that must be it!)
Other notable bogs included the Blackbrook between Beardown and Great
Mis Tor, always a joy!
But never mind, despite these minor problems, the weekend was a great
laugh, and it was possibly the most rewarding experience of my life!
Congratulations of course to all teams who completed, especially to all
Teignbridge District scout teams, Torquay Boys’ and Girls’ Grammar
Schools, as usual walking impressively fast, and South Dartmoor
Community College 35 team, in particular Katie and Emily. Every team,
whether or not they finished, did incredibly well.
So roll on next year, or maybe I’ll spend that weekend lying in bed,
eating a nice breakfast and checking the progress of various teams from
the comfort of a sofa…something tells me that for some reason, I’d
rather be doing the first option…strange, isn’t it?
Peter aka. Gilly
PS. note to Shilstone Tor officials, it was a pleasure to spend five
minutes on the Royal Navy’s premier Tor, but more importantly a
pleasure to spend 46 hours on England’s premier moor!
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| Shilstone Tor Party |
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Another Ten Tors over…
Another fantastic weekend !
At our Tor (Shilstone) we had hundreds of determined, motivated,
self-disciplined, mostly happy, participants pass through.
Three stories that stand out, and epitomise the Ten Tors spirit :
- The team of 8 that turned up – a complete team of six, plus
2 remaining members of another team; they had never met before the
weekend, but were working together to overcome a common adversity.
- The team that turned up having lost one of their maps…
closely followed by another team that had found it, and made sure that
they got it back so that they could continue.
- The participant from an all girl team who had injured her
arm, but got it strapped up, with her rucksack strapped in place, and
continued so she would not let the rest of the team down.
Amazing people, one and all…
Anyone who thinks that young people are all “hoodies” or hooligans
should come and see this event.
Congratulations to all those who finished…
Commiserations to those who didn’t manage it this year…
See you all out on the Moor next year!
J.R. Copley
WO2
ME22 to FOST |
