Making their competitive debut as a team at the 2010 Dartmoor edition of the OMM, Matt Ellis and John Terry surpassed expectations by finishing 4th at the end of Day 1 and 8th overall (out of nearly 190 teams) in the D class event! Despite both suffering from aching joints (ankle in the case of Ellis, and knee for Terry) they powered their way through Day 1, completing the 25.8km linear course, which incorporated 890m of climb in just 4 hours and 5 minutes!
This gave them a part in the chasing start, as they finished just 28 minutes behind the Day 1 leader. Despite an uncomfortable night in a small tent, that was battered by over an inch of rain and 50mph wind gusts, they were up bright and early ready for Day 2. Unfortunately the weather did not improve, with strong winds, heavy rain and hill fog causing problems, even for the more experienced navigators. In the end, dense fog caused them to summit the wrong tor and by the time they had corrected themselves, 20 minutes or more had elapsed, resulting in a time of 4.02 for the 20.4km and 1100m of climb. However it was still a great effort in their first appearance off of their more favoured (well in Matt's case!) road surface.
Other Harriers in action, included Gareth Howard - who teamed up with his dad Bob - to finish 100th in a combined time of 11 hours and 12 minutes, whilst Rick Butters and Brad Payne finished 103rd in a time of 11 hours and 16 minutes.
TACH also had some participants, with Rob Hicks excelling in the medium score class, finishing a brilliant 3rd place, including 1st overall on Sunday, and Jonathan Gledson finished 12th overall in the D class!
Great effort all!
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