ON July 24, three Bere Alston Trekkers (BATs) headed out onto Dartmoor to take part in the Neolith Fell Race – the first in a summer series of evening fell races jointly organised by Tavistock Athletics Club and Tamar Trail Runners.

Starting and finishing at Merrivale, next to the Dartmoor Inn, the race offered five plus miles of superb running, taking in some of the most spectacular tors in West Devon and some ancient Neolithic monuments - it was off road running at its best say the BATs.

First of the BATs in was Jim Medhurst in 53 minutes 14 seconds, closely followed by Tanya Argue 53.31 and Debbie Ashton 01.07.23.

On Sunday, eight BATs headed south to take part in the Stoke Gabriel Carnival 10k. This seven mile run is part of carnival week and is a charity based race sponsored by local businesses to allow all entry fees go direct to the carnival fund and then be passed on to local charities, with the emphasis very much on fun!

This year there was a shorter distance ‘The Prusty Plod’ in honour of one of the sponsors who sadly died in February. All proceeds from the Prusty Plod go to Rowcroft Hospice’s Home Care Team.

The course was a challenging multi terrain run, 80% of which was off road around the village including the river foreshore, footpaths, bridleways, tracks and trails — and one or two hills — which is pretty much the norm for Devon.

Results were unavailable as the Times went to press, the BATs who took part were: Tanya Argue, Debbie Ashton, Lisa Birch, Sam Harte-Latremouille, Hilary and Martin Head, Jim Medhurst and Matthew Wood.