CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: Ilminster team finish Ten Tors challenge with minutes to spare

YOUNG people from the Ilminster squadron of the Air Training Corps recently successfully completed the 35-mile route across Dartmoor as part of the Ten Tors challenge.

The Ten Tors challenge is an annual event in May run by the Army, for teenagers. Up to 400 teams of six take part and the challenge requires an enormous commitment and training regime over many months, to be able to successfully complete the route.

The teams follow a route - only published the day before so that limited time is available to plan - and have to visit checkpoints on ten Tors within given time limits.

The teams camp out on the Saturday night and must be totally self-sufficient, which means they have to carry all the equipment and food that they will need for the entire two-day challenge!

The “Golf” route given to the six cadets from Ilminster took them from the start at Oakhampton southerly along the eastern side of Dartmoor to Postbridge, westwards to the north of Princetown, then northerly along the western edges of the Moor to the finish line.

PHOTO – TOP: Ilminster Air Training Corps’ team of Oscar Ashley, Ed Butler, Charlotte Gratrick, Alfie Crump, navigator Connor Payne, and team leader Ollie Handford. Photo courtesy of Edward Butler.

The weather during the expedition was sunny, warm and windy, in comparison to most of the training weekends through the winter, which were generally cold and wet with many training weekends having to be shortened- so not a good training season!

The leader of the Ilminster ATC team, Ollie Handford, provided encouragement to the team when they felt they would not make the finish on Sunday before the cut-off time of 5pm.

The navigator, Connor Payne, had an important role ensuring the team took the correct route to the checkpoints, whilst keeping to time.

The remainder of the team were Oscar Ashley, Ed Butler, Alfie Crump and Charlotte Gratrick and they had to work together to keep the team as one and carry all the equipment.

On Saturday, the team was forced for safety reasons to stop whilst a Merlin Helicopter airlifted an injured youngster off a Tor.

This caused the team to be delayed and meant they had to stop at an earlier Tor than intended for their overnight camp.

However, their determination meant that they completed the remainder of their route quicker than four other teams who had a shorter route on the Sunday, finally crossing the finish line, exhausted, but with minutes to spare!

Tags:
Leisure.