Westcountry Challenge Runs

This page lists long-distance challenges in the Westcountry which have been completed as a nominal run with individuals covering the whole distance on foot (so not as a relay). The times are based on trust (i.e. no attempt has been made to independently ratify them) and are from start to stop, not just moving time.

The amount of support is indicated after the time where known: S=support points (normally a vehicle meeting the runners from time to time), P=paced (implies support), U=completely unsupported (but may include stashes); in parentheses indicates partial support.

Clicking on the route name takes you to more info, any split times, etc. Clicking on names links to other websites.

Distances and ascents are very approximate; the latter may vary for linear routes depending upon direction (e.g. add 300' for Dartmoor Crossing south to north, subtract 300' for north to south).

GPS routes, interactive maps and other information for some can be found on the GPS routes website and many long-distance challenges in the UK are included on GoFar.

You can register a successful completion of any of these challenges (or a new route) by mailing me at anything @ this domain.

 

630m / 115,000'	South West Coast Path	Minehead-Poole Harbour
Jun-Jul 1997	Damon Rodwell	23 days		Minehead to Poole Harbour
17 Jun-03 Jul 12	Mal Law (Running Wild, New Zealand)	16 days 9:57	S(P)	Minehead to Poole Harbour
27 Apr-11 May 13	Mark Townsend & Julie Gardener	14 days 14:44 F		Minehead to Poole Harbour
7-21 Apr 15	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	14 days 8:01	S(P)	Minehead to Poole Harbour
17-28 May 15	Mark Berry (North Devon Road Runners)	11 days 8:15	S(P)	Poole Harbour to Minehead
14-24 May 16	Damian Hall	10 days 15:18	S(P)	Poole Harbour to Minehead
102m / ?'	Two Moors Way	Lynmouth-Ivybridge
25-26 Nov 2017	Ceri Rees (Wild Running) Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	26:30		Lynmouth to Ivybridge
70m / 15,000?'	Nigel Jenkins Dartmoor Round	Circuit of the moor		More info at GoFar
31 Dec 1999	Nigel (Zippy) Jenkins	18:03		Clockwise from Meavy
2008	Steve (Plodder) Bradfield	?		?
2009	Ian Bowles	?		Clockwise extended to 80m from Haytor
2 Sep 2017	Jon (Minibar) Croome	23:25		Clockwise from Meavy
20 Jun 2020	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners) Tim Lenton (Axe Valley Runners)	18:45		Clockwise from Belstone
70m / 12,000'	East Devon Round	East Devon Way and South West Coast Path
21 May 2011	John Keast (Sidmouth RC) Don Cawthera (Sidmouth RC)	20:25	P	Clockwise from Sidmouth at 3am
27-28 Jul 2012	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners)	18:18	P	Anti-clockwise from Lyme Regis at 6pm
15 Jun 2014	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	11:39	P	Anti-clockwise from Sidmouth at 7am.
65m / 10,000'	Wessex Ridgeway - Dorset section	Ashmore to Lyme Regis (original footpath route, not the newer "multi-use" option)
May 2008	Ines Braun (Gillingham Trotters)	15:09 F	?	Wessex Ridgeway Relay (Tollard Royal to Uplyme village hall)
May 2008	Andy Horsley (Wimborne AC)	15:18	?	Wessex Ridgeway Relay (Tollard Royal to Uplyme village hall)
May 2012	Andy Horsley (Wimborne AC)	14:22	?	Wessex Ridgeway Relay (Tollard Royal to Uplyme village hall)
May 2012	Craig Dixon (Dorset Doddlers) Ian Holmes (Gillingham Trotters)	14:40	?	Wessex Ridgeway Relay (Tollard Royal to Uplyme village hall)
04 Sep 2016	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	12:27	(P)	Tollard Royal to Lyme Regis clock tower
40m / 5,000'	East Devon Way Plus	Exmouth-Uplyme (EDW ends at Devon-Dorset border) then on to Lyme Regis
Apr 2004	Nick Keast (Sidmouth RC) Jim Pyne (Sidmouth RC)	8¼ hrs	S?	Exmouth to Lyme Regis
Jun 2004	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) John Keast (Sidmouth RC) Neil Tubbs (Sidmouth RC)	7½ hrs	S	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (Cobb Arms)
2009?	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Eleanor Wood (Axe Valley Runners) Phil Bayliss (Axe Valley Runners)	8½ hrs?	S	Exmouth to Uplyme (end of EDW)
06 Aug 2011	Tom Bland	7:14	U	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (clock tower)
13 May 2012	Jon Day (Axe Valley Runners) Paul Johns (Axe Valley Runners) Tom Bland (Axe Valley Runners)	7:55	S	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (Cobb Arms)
28 Dec 2012	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners)	7:15	(S)	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (Cobb Arms)
27 Apr 2013	Alex Todd (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners)	6:38	U	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (end of The Cobb)
17 May 2014	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	5:47	P	Exmouth to Lyme Regis (end of The Cobb; 5:35 end of EDW)
15 Jun 2014	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	6:31	P	Lyme Regis to Exmouth (as part of the East Devon Round)
31 Mar 2018	James Green (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners)	7:20	U	Lyme Regis to Exmouth
40m / 4,000'	West Dorset Round	South Dorset Ridgeway and South West Coast Path (omitting Portland)
05 Aug 2012	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Alex Todd (Axe Valley Runners)	7:35	(S)	Clockwise from Hardy Monument
45m / 5,000'	Channel to Channel	Bristol Channel to English Channel
08 Jan 2001	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners)	8:45	S	Quantoxhead to Seaton
30m / 4,000'	Dartmoor Crossing	North-south or south-north traverse of the moor; various route variations but absolute minimum of road running. The pure approach starts and finishes at the northernmost and southernmost moorgates (Tor Cross near Belstone grid ref 610941 and Ivybridge grid ref 652569).
15 Nov 2010	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Dan Booth (Mynyddr de Cymru) Jon Croome (Exmouth Harriers) Jim Pyne (Sidmouth RC) Graham Newton (Axe Valley Runners) Gordon Hathway Nick Bale	7+ hrs	U	Ivybridge to Okehampton
18 Apr 2011	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners) Alex Copping (Team Bath AC)	6½ hrs	U	Ivybridge to Belstone
24 Aug 2013	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners	4:48	U	Tor Cross to Ivybridge
07 Sep 2013	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners) Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	5:07	U	Ivybridge to Tor Cross
23 Mar 2016	Ceri Rees (Wild Running)	3:43	U	Belstone to Ivybridge (gate to gate)
30 Apr 2016	Miriam Quick (Wild Running)	5:19 F	(P)	Tor Cross to Ivybridge
23 Aug 2016	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	4:27	U	Tor Cross to Ivybridge
23 Feb 2019	Andy Connor	4:09	U	Ivybridge to Belstone
28 Apr 2019	Eleanor Wood (Axe Valley Runners) Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Karen Eyre (Axe Valley Runners) Lee Moran (Axe Valley Runners) Matt Clist (Axe Valley Runners)	6:01		Tor Cross to Ivybridge (gate to gate)
30m / 4,000'	Overnight Crossing	It's more challenging in the dark!
01 Jul 2011	Garry Perratt (Axe Valley Runners) Alex Todd (Axe Valley Runners) Kevin Hawker (Honiton RC)	7+ hrs	U	Ivybridge to Belstone; finished in daylight cos Garry conked out big time at Postbridge.
60m / 8,000'	Double Crossing	There and back again!
23 Aug 2016	Patrick Devine-Wright (Axe Valley Runners)	12:18	U	Ran from Tor Cross to Ivybridge then walked back
18m	Dartmoor 600s	Circular route from the Dartmoor Inn visiting all five tops over 600m
See the challenge's Facebook page.

South West Coast Path

A few ground rules should be followed to qualify for inclusion here:

• The route is the official one in force at the time of the run, including the Portland circuit, with formal diversions as necessary.
• You can be driven round river crossings without bridges but should stop and restart as close as possible to the ferry embarkation points (but using ferries is obviously the purest approach).
• Ideally cover the entire route in sequence although out-of-sequence sections are permitted if necessary (e.g. schedule slippage results in the Lulworth ranges being reach when closed, hence having to do that section before or after the parts either side, or run the last few days in reverse; Portland loop out of sequence for logistical reasons).
• A "day" is a 24-hour period so if you start at 08:00 one day and finish 16:00 two weeks later that's 14 days and 8 hours.

Note also that planning is important for this challenge; in particular, don't underestimate how difficult and stressful the support job can be.

East Devon Way

The East Devon Way is a waymarked inland route between Exmouth and Uplyme, although it is obvious to continue on down to Lyme Regis. It has about 5,000 feet of climb in the 40 miles so definitely isn't flat, but nor is it extremely hilly by East Devon standards.

Patrick's run

One of the reasons for Patrick's fast time (other than him being a very fine distance runner, of course!) was that he was fully supported with at least one pacer on each leg, carrying food & drink, opening gates, etc. Other runs tend to be either groups of various size with road support, or unsupported solos/small groups with a few water stashes.

Leg	End point	Dist	Time
	Start		08:00
1	Hulham Road	3.4	08:28
2	Lympstone Common	6.6	08:55
3	Hawkerland	9.6	09:18
4	Harpford Church	13.4	09:50
5	White Cross	16.1	10:17
6	Hatway Hill	19.2	10:45
7	Middle Knapp Farm	22.4	11:16
8	Northleigh Church	25.9	11:44
9	Chantry Bridge	29.4	12:13
10	Musbury	32.7	12:44
11	Above Uplyme	36.1	13:21
12	End of EDW	37.8	13:34
13	End of Cobb	39.4	13:47

East Devon Round

The East Devon Round follows all of the East Devon Way, the section of the South West Coast Path between Exmouth (Starcross ferry terminal) and Lyme Regis (clocktower), plus a link between the two alongside the River Lim. It's roughly 70 miles long with 12,000' of ascent.

It's quite roady with about 20 miles of hard surface between all the roads, drives and tarmac paths. The off-road going is largely good and the routes are reasonably well waymarked although a map or local knowledge is essential in places. There are some fantastic views (given good weather).

Two legs can be quite miserable - the long, flat boring road through Exmouth (very tedious when you're knackered) and the Lyme Regis Undercliff (a very twisty, hilly, technical trail which can likewise be a real chore when very tired).
 

GPS routes and interactive maps

East Devon Way South West Coast Path

 

Splits from Garry's round

Night legs are darker yellow. Blue items show further notes when you hover the mouse over them.
 

Leg	End	Distance		Time			Notes
		Leg	Total	Rest	Leg	Total
1	Musbury	6.0	6		1:06	1:06
2	Colyton	3.5	10	8	48	2:02	15-minute error
3	Northleigh	3.9	13	6	40	2:48
4	Farway Wood	2.7	16	10	32	3:30
5	Sidbury	5.3	21	15	1:02	4:47
6	Harpford	4.3	26	8	57	5:52
7	Joney's Cross (A3052 crossing)	2.9	29	33	42	7:07	25-minute sleep
8	Four Firs	3.8	32	8	53	8:08
9	Exmouth - A La Ronde	3.7	36	9	50	9:07
10	Exmouth - end of East Devon Way	2.9	39	10	37	9:54
11	Exmouth - Orcombe Point	2.2	41	0	32	10:26	5-minute error
12	Budleigh Salterton - prom	3.6	45	19	55	11:40	15-minute doze
13	Sidmouth - sailing club	7.0	52	9	1:39	13:28
14	Branscombe Mouth	5.8	57	22	1:43	15:33
15	Beer	2.1	60	0	30	16:03
16	Seaton - Fisherman's Gap	1.4	61	2	17	16:22
17	Lyme Regis - Cobb Arms	6.7	68	2	1:53	18:17

West Dorset Round

The West Dorset Round follows all of the South Dorset Ridgeway (inland alternative to the coast path avoiding Weymouth) and part of the South West Coast Path. It's roughly 40 miles long with 4,000' of ascent excluding Portland; the latter adds nearly 15m and 1,000' of climb.

It's mainly off-road with good going and the routes are reasonably well waymarked although a map or local knowledge is essential in places. There are some fantastic views in various places (given good weather!).

The long, flat boring road through Weymouth can be tedious.
 

Splits from Garry & Alex's round