Ten Tors

Since September of last year Ben has been training hard with his school for the Ten Tors challenge and recently secured a much sought-after spot on one of six teams from Teign School. The Ten Tors is a two day expedition on Dartmoor for young people run by the British Army. There are four-hundred teams of six who must navigate their way through ten tors within 34 hours, using only their map and compass. There are three different distances to walk according to the age of the team, the Bronze route (suitable for Ben's age) is 35 miles, the Silver route is 45 miles and the Gold route is 55 miles. Apart from the manned checkpoints on each tor for the team to get their timecards stamped, there is no assistance from adults. The team carry tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, food, spare clothes, first aid kits, water (which is collected from the moors)...THEY ARE HEAVY!

On Friday Ben left to set up at base camp at Okehampton with his school teams.  They went through scrutineering, checked over their assigned routes, and ate a lot of food! It was an early start on Saturday morning but team Teign Valley Ramblers were ready for action:

The cannons fired at 7:00am and all 2,400 participants started the challenge:

Ben's team on one of the tors on Saturday:

They did such a great job on Saturday, their pace was fast despite the hot weather and they reached their 8th tor by 6:33pm. The team had to camp there as they aren't permitted to go any further than 8 tors in one day when they are on a 35 mile route. This morning the boys set off at 6:00am for their last two tors and we drove out to Okehampton to meet the team as they came in.  Isn't the finish line in a beautiful spot?

Watching all the teams come in was just wonderful, the crowd were clapping and cheering as they walked by. At 11:33am the Teign Valley Ramblers arrived. They completed the challenge in 28 hours and 33 minutes, and I must confess, I had a tear in my eye as they approached.  I'm so proud of them and all the hard work they have put into this event. Ben is in the middle of the photo in a black top:

And the team after receiving their bronze medals:

The boys had a great time and want to stay as a team to complete the 45 mile next year!