Several Teignbridge Trotters took on the first Pagan Trails race from Chagford to Fernworthy & back on Jan 21st. The challenging hilly event was held in arctic conditions with the half marathon 14.5 miles 2100 ft of ascent and the marathon being close to 29 miles and 4500m of ascent.

It lived up to it's name as super tough, windy and icy high up on the exposed moor. Ruth Johnson finished the half marathon in 103rd place in 3 hours 25 mins, Samanatha Galvin, a new Trotter was delighted with 126th out of 140 finishers in 3 hours 51 mins. She felt the atmosphere and views were brilliant. In the arduous marathon Tim Hassell & partner in crime Derek Skinner got stuck in for a really tough and gritty race.

For Derek it was No.83 on his marathon odyssey and coming in at just under 29 miles it felt grueling and exhausting. After one massive Meldon climb onto the moors with heart rates jumping, the wind hit as the going turned hard under foot. There was ice in places on the route with varying moorland. At the finish there was well earned food and a bar to celebrate in. Tim Hassell and Derek Skinner finished the marathon in 78 and 79 positions in 7 hours together (97 finishers in total) having enjoyed the sights.

Globe trotting Graydon Widdicombe was in Madeira, taking part in Maratona do Funchal on 21 January for his first event of the year. Starting at 7am in the relative cool, temperatures topped out at around 25deg, noticeably warmer than Torbay in recent weeks. Humidity was quite low which was a bonus.

Madeira is a very hilly island but possibly to make the elevation of the race manageable by keeping on the relative flat, the course was curious. The first 20 miles consisted of 4 out-and-backs in a general westerly direction and the final 6 miles consisted of 3 loops near the old town. The course was nice with regular views of the ocean.

There was small field in the marathon but numbers for the event overall were boosted by a Half Marathon and an 8K event. There was plenty of support with live music en route, and the finish was just outside the picturesque Old Town. Training hadn’t been great and the last 8 miles were a struggle especially as it got hotter but Graydon triumphed in smashing out another sub-4 hour effort finishing in 3:59:37. Hats off to a great January performance in the Atlantic.