MUD was much on the menu for the Bere Alston Trekkers this weekend, completing some long distance, off-road trail races in the Westcountry and further afield.

Hope12 hour is the new event from the Hope24 ultra endurance event team. It was billed as a 5km course set in the beautiful private Flete estate nestled in the hills of the lovely South Hams with options for soloists or teams of two to five.

This event was ideal for beginner runners in a team or those looking to start out on their first foray into ultra running, and also for seasoned ultra runners looking for a new challenge.

It sounded lovely but the reality was that it was extremely wet and muddy from the start at 9am and by the finish at 9pm on Saturday, conditions were atrocious – perfect Bere Alston Trekker weather, and they loved it!

Valiant BATs Murray Turner and Fiona Maddock tackled the event as solo runners. Murray completed 13 laps and came 31st overall covering 47 miles and Fiona completed six laps, nearly 22 miles, and finished 40th in her category.

Three BATs formed part of the ‘Nashville Five’ team. Pam and Dave Adams, each ran three laps with Northern BAT Andy Cowden running five laps, four of them consecutively, and bringing the team home in 21st place and seventh team overall covering a total of 50.4 miles. Dotty and Phil King made up the rest of the team with Dotty starting the team off in wellies and apron and Phil completing two laps before heading back to serve cakes and teas. The solo runners were crewed by Jo Bourton who fed, watered and encouraged as required.

On Sunday, Solo BAT Chris Anthony took part in the Trail Events South West Coastpath Trail Running Challenge.

Starting and finishing at Dartmouth Castle, this was a tough but scenic trail run with a choice of two distances for competitors to enjoy: the 18km option and the new 40km option on trails, which take runners pass Bee Sands and Slapton, with incredible views and tough running along the way. Chris tackled the 18k option, finishing in 3 hours 07 minutes 12 seconds.

Lady BAT Marcia Macey travelled north to take part in the Enduracelife North York Moors Trail Marathon.

Wholly located within the National Park, and utilising sections of the Cleveland Way, this area is superbly suited to trail running. The course is rich and varied with reminders to Yorkshire’s fine heritage all around - from the dry stone walls and disused railway lines, to the hardy sheep flocks up on the moors.

The world famous Whitby Abbey is just a few miles up the road, so there is plenty to make a weekend long visit well worthwhile for those travelling north for this race. Marcia (pictured) completed the marathon in 6.26.00.

Northern BAT Jaynie Turner ran in the Lincoln Half Marathon. This 13.1 mile road race is held on Lincolnshire Day, along a route including Lincoln’s most famous sights: runners pass Lincoln Cathedral, run through the grounds of Lincoln Castle, and pass the beautiful Brayford Waterfront.

The Lincoln Half Marathon starts and finishes within the Lincolnshire Show ground. Jaynie was chasing a sub-two hour personal best but just missed out, finishing in a time of 2.01.07.