MORE than 2,000 youngsters will set off from Okehampton this weekend for the annual Ten Tors challenge. Preparations are well underway to ensure the 46th Ten Tors, the greatest annual adventure for British young people, gets off to a good start from Okehampton Camp early on Saturday. General Sir Richard Dannatt, Commander in Chief; and Major General Andrew Farquhar, General Officer Commanding the Army?s 5th Division, will flag away the 2,400 participants in 400 teams on a trek over Dartmoor ? including a compulsory overnight stop ? over 35, 45 or 55 miles, according to age. Entrants must be self-supporting and carry food, water, bedding, tents and rubbish bags. Later, some 250 less-abled youngsters, many in wheelchairs, will start, as individuals or in teams, on their own routes of up to 15 miles in the now well-established Jubilee Challenge, each one accompanied by an officer cadet from Exeter University. The expedition is again organised by the Army?s 43 (Wessex) Brigade with assistance from the Royal Navy, RAF and emergency services, including the Dartmoor Rescue Group and civilian police. Brigadier Jolyon Jackson, Ten Tors director and Brigade Commander, had a message for the young people taking part: ?This is a weekend that you will remember for the rest of your lives. For those of you taking part, you have accepted a demanding challenge. You will pit yourselves against the rough terrain of Dartmoor, against the weather and experience real physical and mental pressure. ?This is a team event; you will get no kudos from coming in on your own. Good teamwork is essential; that physical and mental bonding of individuals who all are seeking to achieve the same goal. Some of you will lead and some will follow, but everyone is participating with the goal of successfully completing the course with the same people they set out with. But please don?t take risks either with your own safety or that of others. There is no disgrace in seeking help.? Understanding of the moor?s special sensitivities is paramount to success: the Dartmoor National Park Authority has worked closely with the Ten Tors organisers over the past few years to enhance the understanding and enjoyment experienced by the participants while trying to minimise the impact that the training, and event itself, has on the high moorland environment.
