THE weekend was relatively quiet for the Bere Alston Trekkers, with few races in the diary.

After the club’s Christmas dinner dance the night before, solo lady BAT Fiona Maddock swapped her dancing shoes for trainers to take on The Cockington Caper. The Caper is a scenic but challenging multi-terrain run, covering approximately seven and a half miles and featuring as much of the mud, hills, woods, rivers, forests and country lanes Cockington has to offer. Starting and finishing at the Cricket Pavilion in Cockington, Fiona ran this rough pre-dominantly off road race in a time of 2 hours 10 minutes 36 seconds.

Later on the same day, male BAT Francis Dix and lady BAT Heather French ran the inaugural Race the Light, organised by Puretrail as a continuation of their ‘Race the Tide’ concept. This new out and back multi-terrain race saw runners crossing the Erme estuary in the dark.

The race itself is a shadowy 8.5 mile escapade, in South Devon meandering through Flete Estates secret tracks and trails, with a cold crossing of the estuary on the outward and return legs, so runners had to be prepared for wet feet and legs from the outset.

Competitors were racing not only the tide but also the light, head torches were mandatory, although for those runners quick enough to do so, the race started at 3.30pm, so there was a chance to make it back before dark, to enjoy the hospitality on offer at The Schoolhouse in Mothecombe.

Francis finished his race in 1.21.37 and Heather in 1.57.38.