DARTMOOR was the playground for about 3,000 runners and walkers taking part in the Original Mountain Marathon — the first time in 28 years that this premier adventure race has been held in West Devon.

Several of the local runners had taken part in 1982 and were back for more — Colin Sturmer, Nigel Worsey and Paul Glanville. For many local racers a trip to the OMM has meant regular journeys to events held all over northern Britain so being able to compete near home was a delight. For others it was their introduction to adventure racing.

There are two types of courses; Line (controls visited in a pre-designated order) and Score (controls visited in any order within an allocated time). The ethos of the event is in teams of two to be totally self-reliant, in the wilds, carrying all equipment, with no outside support and without GPS or mobile phones. In this year's elite class competitors covered about 90km and climbed about 2,800m, the equivalent of a marathon each day combined with climbing Ben Nevis!

Early on Saturday morning everyone made their way to the event centre at Okehampton Camp. Some started their two day challenge from there whilst others were bussed out to Cadover Bridge. The aim was then to navigate your way around the moor visiting controls whilst carrying tent, sleeping bag, food and survival equipment for the weekend whilst racing the other teams back to the finish.

The controls were located all over the moor, some near iconic tors, and others on streams or similar small moorland features. A combination of running fitness and the ability to read the maps and the land was needed to get as quickly as possible from control to control. Most local runners made good progress and were in camp at Peak Hill Farm or Wilsworthy Range by late afternoon looking forward to whatever rest they could get before day two. However the wind blew up and brought with it heavy rainfall making Saturday night very disturbed and quite uncomfortable.

Setting off early on Sunday morning care was needed crossing the Tavy and West Okement, the water swirling around about waist deep. Jo Meek was even swept off her feet on one crossing!

Towards the end of the day many of the competitors had to summon up the last of their strength and energy reserves to make their way home by climbing up to a control set on the summit of Yes Tor before racing down the slopes back into Okehampton Camp. Many of the local competitors came from Tamar Valley Hash House Harriers, with others from Dartmoor Runners, Tavistock Athletic Club, Okehampton Running Club, Devon Orienteering and a few free spirits.

Noteworthy results include Andy Vallance and Nick Pearson competing in their first OMM and completing the Elite event in 25th place. In the A class Charlie Lloyd and Tony King finished second overall and were the first veteran team by almost an hour. In the Long Score Angela Sykes and Sarah Jones pulled off a spectacular second day to move up 60 places to finish as the first female team and 60th overall.

Tom Lawson and Tom Gill, both aged 18 and in their first OMM, were second in the C class, a brilliant result showing they have great potential for future adventure racing. Another local 18 year old Will Ames, who with Richard Deardon, came 12th in the A class.

In the Medium Score Steve Statham and Richard Windemer came an excellent third veteran team while Noel Gould (75year-old) and Arthur Vince (70 years-old) showed it is possible to compete whatever your age and were even the 15th veteran team. What a performance!

Several family teams took part, including father and son Mike and Ben Rasdall.

The competitors would like to thank Jen Longbottom and the OMM team for a great event, and the volunteers who camped out over the weekend to man controls and radio stations.

Charlie Lloyd said: 'We are also grateful to the many landowners who gave permission for the event to cross their land and to Dartmoor National Park and the Army.'