WITH Spring just around the corner, many members of the Bere Alston Trekkers are training hard on road and trail for the longer events in the race calendar.

At the weekend, husband and wife team Dave and Pam Adams travelled to the Wales/England border to meet up with former BATs, friends Mike and Heather Smith, to take part in ‘Offa’s Twisted Wye Kanter’, a tough off road event organised by the South Wales Long Distance Walkers’ Association, who encourage runners as well as walkers to take part in their events.

Established long distance routes such as Offa’s Dyke, Wye Valley Walk and Gloucestershire Way are utilised as well as paths to link main routes.

There were four routes to choose from, 22, 20, 16 and 12.5 miles, and in each distance, clues had to be gathered. The twist is that competitors lacking the skills or confidence to self-navigate, were provided with GPS tracks and route descriptions to enable them to walk or run the route of their choice, answering the clues along the way to earn the coveted finishers’ certificate.

There were no checkpoints on any of these routes and entrants had to ensure that they carried sufficient food and drink for their chosen route. The South Wales LDWA provided tea and toast at the start, and a substantial hot meal and hospitality on the competitor’s return to Chepstow.

Dave and Pam opted for the 20 mile route which was scenic, but arduous given the muddy conditions, which they completed in around 4.5 hours.