Cabot Ten Tors

Covering some distance, the hike wasn't as easy as some may have expected. It was a great opportunity to stretch your legs and find out how fit you really are, by the end of the day there were plenty of complaints about aching legs and sore backs. One hike a month is NOT enough to keep you fit, if you really struggled to keep up you need to be taking some steps to increase your fitness and endurance before the next training hike.

In most cases the map reading was okay, some teams got a little mis-placed but soon found themselves and got back on track. This is an important part of navigation - identifying when you've gone wrong (as we all do it) and working out how to make it right. Also something that we'll work on during the next few months.

We've got some shiny new mini-buses this year, this is absolutely great news. However, if we fail to look after them you'll soon find yourselves back in the old ones! Please do your very best to look after them - take all your rubbish with you, feet off seats, put your muddy boots in a bag and put clean trousers on.

And don't forget we finish at the gas works, not the hut!

Below are some tips and advice to address some of the things we noticed on this hike:

35s

• Many of you finished your lunch fairly early on, you're doing exercise all day so you'll need more food than normal. Make sure you bring plenty to keep you going so you don't have to break into your survival rations! Read the advice here on food.
• It was a disappointment to some when you learned you weren't going to have a 'lunch stop' - it's best to eat little and often throughout the day. Rather that eating it all at lunch time. (Besides you won't have the time for lunch breaks!)
• When the rain started coming down many of you struggled to get your waterproof trousers on over your boots - it's best to have zips at the bottom of the trousers so they are big enough to get over your boots. If yours don't then you need to accept this and get your boots off and back on again as quickly as possible.
• If you found your boots didn't fit or caused you pain then do something about it before the next hike - do not turn up thinking you'll be able to cover a longer distance in the same boots having changed nothing! It may just be an extra pair of socks that's needed or wearing them often to break them in before the next hike.
• If your waterproofs didn't keep you dry it's really important to sort this out - try re-proofing them.
• A bag of sweets to share with your team is good for team spirit!

45s

Well done guys, some really good team work shown today looking after each other. Hope you enjoyed yourselves. Some tips:

• Remember to keep together and not allow large gaps in the party
• Gates do open - you don't have to climb over
• Keep the pace up
• You can't wake a sleeping Bamford!

55s

You guys walked perfectly today with really good pace, all the better considering some distances between checkpoints were longer than Sooty's measuring string. Some kit items were missing today such as hat, gloves and spare layer - they would have made the wait for other teams more comfortable. Glad you had a good day. We'd like hear from you on how you think the training should be arranged for you this year, any ideas etc - please contact us with your ideas.

Lost Property - contact us to arrange collection of the below.

• Craghoppers trousers blue (and mud) colour, size 12
• Pair of leather boots and black gaiters (couldn't read size)
• Right boot - Dunstan Thompson
• 3x black odd socks!
• Left hand green thinsulate glove
• Dark blue baseball cap from P reg minibus
• Plastic waterbottle - Durstan
• Pair black thinsulate gloves - Jake Neads
• Yellow towel
• Small personal first aid kit