The root of the problem at Dartington Hall is no match for Torbay team

The Dark Dart Dash 10k & Canicross races put on by Sportiva Events at the Dartington Estate was a muddy affair for members of Torbay Triathlon Club along a course full of tree roots.

Starting and finishing at the Dartington Hall, the trail route takes in much of the estate. In the 10k, first back was SM Steven Waters in 53:10 (14th), followed by V40 Cassandra Pressling 1hr 13mins 52secs, 2nd female V40 out of 56runners.

In the 10k Canicross event, SM Matt Giles and his trusty labrador Neville continued their winning ways, finishing 1st in 49:44 despite a poo stop (Nev) and a fall (Matt) out of eight entrants.

The Budleigh Blister is a tough mixed trail course staged by Exmouth Harriers. The run starts and finishes at Budleigh Cricket ground. The route is approximately 10 miles and follows part of the stunning South West coast path towards Sidmouth, then inland to Ottenton and  back to the finish. 

First back for the Tri Club was the in-form V50 Andrew Longthorpe in an excellent time of 1hr 05mins 07secs (9th) and 2nd in age category. Not far behind was the ever-impressive V55 Jon Parkinson in 1hr 07mins 46secs (13th) 1st in age category.

V60 Richard Smith repeated his 1st V60 from last year, finishing in 1hr 12mins 05secs (17th), and despite recent injury issues, V50 Jerry Hocking finished in 1hr 14mins 10secs (29th).

Next was SM Steven Waters, his 2nd race in 12hours, in 1hr 17mins 57secs (41st). Just behind was V35 Jon Hiscoke 1hr 18mins 27secs (42nd), then V50 Simon Johnson 1hr 20mins 09secs (56th), V60 Devon Macs 1hr 20mins 26secs (58th), SL Katie Potter 1hr 23mins 24secs (74th), V60 Graham Reynolds 1hr 25mins 50secs (88th), and V60 Cathy Parkinson in 1hr 26mins 58secs (95th) 2nd in age category out of 213 runners.

There was also a Budleigh Lite race this year, a challenging 5-miler over the same tough terrain. V50 Valerie McClean took on the challenge and finished in 1hr 00mins 18secs, (34th) out of 50.