The Drogo 10
Sunday 15th November 2015
By
Andy Dickinson
Based at the National Trust property of Castle Drogo on Dartmoor, this was going to be a good challenging off-road run encompassing the steep sided Teign Gorge. It was extremely well organised jointly by the National Trust and South West Road Runners.
We started at the front of the castle and descended to the bottom of the valley along a series of narrow paths which made passing difficult.
A queue quickly built up at the river crossing as 450 runners converged on a narrow bridge so early on. Luckily I had read reviews which had highlighted this problem and decided to start near the front which paid off as looking back from the other side of the river I could see an ever extending tailback. Once free of this the course followed the River Teign, which was in full flow following the previous days rain.
After mile 3 we left the river and started the half mile stretch of the 400 foot climb up the steep slopes of the gorge.
Once at the top we were treated to a stunning view of the Teign Valley. It’s not long before the refreshing descent back down to the river followed by a relatively flat 2 mile section along the picturesque river to Fingle Bridge. It was then we hit the famous Hunter’s Path hill which was literally a climb up to the castle draining any last remaining energy from my legs. Arriving at the top it was just a short 400m sprint/stagger to the finish – crossing the line in 1hr 28mins.
F
acilities included an excellent on site cafe for the much needed recovery coffee!
Would I do this run again? Yeah of course I would!