Inaugural 2017 Event

Despite the efforts of Storm Brian who brought in some refreshing rain and cooling breeze to help our escapees, the 2017 was a great success - thanks to all entrants for their amazing efforts.

From brisk runners, to steady walkers, it attracted a great variety of entrants, adding to a great atmosphere at the start. Had the wind and drain not been so challenging, we suspect distances would have been greater, but despite this, overall winner Adam reached more than 67 miles as the crow flies, he suspects his on the ground distance was in excess of 80 miles!

Below are some pictures and accounts from some of the escapees including Adam himself. Planning is well underway for the 2018 event which we expect to be even more popular. We're currently confirming a date before rolling out with detail and booking information.

24 hour Solo Winner — Adam Holland - 67.28 miles
24 hour Team Winners — Grant Williams & Nathan Counter - 19.13 miles
12 hour Solo Winner — Richard Moule - 28.51 miles
12 hour Team Winners — Philip Cowell & Paul Bedford - 42.77 miles

Reports from some successful escapees

Overall solo 24 hour winner Adam 'Tango' Holland
I made it to Princetown where there was a strong wind and light rain. It was nice to talk to some of the other runners about their game plan and where they were going. Eventually got my kit checked to make sure I had everything and received my tracker and race number. It was lovely to have Katherine's parents there to support me at the start. We all set off with police sirens and scattered in different directions heading out of the prison entrance. Kat headed home to Dunsford after we got going which was about 20 miles away. Got off to a good start heading the long way round out of Princetown. I passed 5 other runners on my way to Dunsford. On my way, that the wind was on my side with light showers on and off. Kat, Bella and mini Adam took the lead in the car helping me to stay on track to get through Exeter and onto Honiton with no problems. Great to have support along the way from Sandra stopping by and from all the messages.

Not long after that, I hit the 50 miles on my watch in 8 hours, changing my shoes, socks and long sleeve base layer. Which felt absolutely amazing!! It was nice to get out of some of the wet kit. Even though it continued to rain on and off. Headed to Chard and this is when it started to get dark. Between Chard and Crewkerne I was thinking about getting some sleep as it was almost midnight. It was nice to see a fox crossing the road and a deer. I managed to run 69.6miles in the first 12 hours and when I got to the car I decided to have a two hour kip- looking at the trackers, I had a good gap on the next people. After two hours, I had a look again and the gap wasn't much different, so I decided to have one more hour. After that hour, it was hammering it down with rain, so one more hour wasn't going to hurt. I eventually got my shoes back on and coat plus bag and set off at around 4.15am. After a couple of miles, I was feeling okay, but a little bit unhappy with some of the taxi drivers going through puddles and getting me even more wet. Got to 5 miles and had a look at the trackers. At this point, it was raining heavily again. I decided that no one was going to catch me and would call it a day when I got to 80 miles.

I'm waiting to find out but I think it was just over 65 miles as the crow flies. I'm pretty sure if I'd carried on for the last 8 hours, I would've made it to the 100 miles but I stopped with over 5 hours to go. Absolutely over the moon with Katherine's support the whole way! She did an amazing job and I love her very much.

L H
What an epic event, loved the alarms going off as we headed out of the prison, it was fun route planning and all going in different directions. Running south westerly head on into storm Brian was tough and with a huge elevation. 37.7 miles through mud, surface water and blown down branches worked out to just over 30 as the crow flies. Some excitement added with a glowstick exploding in my eye! Thanks DSRP!

R S
Thanks for a great race. Loved the atmosphere caused by the sirens as we all took off. That had me smiling for miles. I really enjoyed getting to choose my own route and run my own race. I hope to be back next year, and maybe do a few miles further! More detail here: http://rlstow.uk/run/dartmoor-prison-break-2017/