BERE Alston Trekkers took to the trails this weekend in force, enjoying the sunny bank holiday weather.

On Saturday, husband and wife BATs Dave and Pam Adams journeyed to South Wales to take part in the Brecon Beacons Half Marathon, one of a number of distances available in this race organised by The Trail Events Company.

With elevation gain of over 1,136 meters, the half marathon was categorised as ‘strenuous to extreme’, and lived up to it’s reputation. At 15.9 miles, it was also somewhat longer than the standard half marathon route. Nevertheless, Dave and Pam pressed on and finished strongly in the very hot conditions.

Meanwhile, closer to home, another BAT husband and wife, Paul and Debbie Ashton, ran the Plym Trail Marathon Series organised by Firstandlastrunning, opting to take part in the half marathon distance.

Starting and finishing at Coypool, and incorporating cycle route 27, this route enjoys the all the flora and fauna of the Plym Valley’s woodlands and valleys. This was Debbie’s first half marathon, and although official times were unavailable at the time of going to press, she and husband Paul crossed the line in approximately 2 hours 16 minutes.

On Sunday, the BATs were in North Devon to take part in the sixth edition of the Hartland Hartbreaker, hosted by North Devon Road Runners.

Incorporating nine-mile or 18-mile trail races, it started and finished in the grounds of the historic Hartland Abbey. The Hartland Hartbreaker is a tough off-road, multi terrain running race, where competitors can expect encounter sections of exposed cliff tops, muddy tracks, uneven paths, long sections of path with no discernible route, river crossings, steep, slippery difficult sections (some with ropes) and generally a really tough, long and challenging run.

The BAT 18-milers were led by Martin Head, with lady BATs Lisa Birch, Marcia Macey, Mel Greaves and Fran Morgan following his lead. Samantha Harte-Latremouille, Sarah Bartlett and Hilary Head completed the equally tough nine-mile option, and a fantastic day out was enjoyed by all.