Trudi's Ten Tors Charity Fundraiser - 35 miles in 2 days!!

What is the Ten Tors Challenge?

The Ten Tors Challenge is attempted by 2,400 teenagers in 400 teams of six. The teams navigate routes of 35, 45 or 55 miles (depending on age) over the Northern half of Dartmoor, visiting ten nominated tors / check points in under two days. Teams must be self-sufficient, carrying all that they need to complete their route and stay out overnight safely.

I am embarking on the 35 mile Ten Tors challenge with my explorer scout troop next weekend and I am asking you, my friends and family, to sponsor me for the event.

We have been training since November 2023, the first day-walk expedition was to acclimatise us to carrying our heavy 35 litre bag; this bag has everything we need to survive on Dartmoor for 12 hours and was really heavy!

Our subsequent training walks, started in January, were over the weekend and included camping overnight, where, after an 11/12 hour walk we had to cook dinner and pitch a tent, preferably before it got dark, then wake early, cook breakfast, repack the camp and carry on for the next 9/10 hours. This backpack is now 65 litres and weighs a ton when full, as it has to carry a tent and is the final size and weight for the actual event. If any kit from the official kit list is missing on my final race day, with our safety in mind, I will be disqualified, the Army take this very seriously. We have checkpoints we have to reach and the final race will be timed. If we don't reach each checkpoint or finish in time, we will be disqualified. So it’s an enormous challenge to meet, as we haven't quite done it all yet. We are hoping the adrenaline will carry us forward. So far I have done 7 weekend treks and most of these have accumulated over 100,000 steps each. My feet have had to get used to a lot of blisters!

The race itself is organised by the army, we will be supervised by them over the weekend. The army are responsible for our safety and have organised checkpoints, satellite tracking, medical teams and helicopters to look after us. Dartmoor is a hostile terrain and weather conditions there can change very quickly. The weather conditions can become disorientating at the flip of a switch. But hopefully we will have sunny skies this year.

I have also already completed my Duke or Edinburgh bronze award walk which has also helped in my training for next weekend.

Each year we have to fund raise for our nominated charity at scouts, and I am choosing to use my ten tors challenge as my fund raising opportunity. I think you can see, I have been very busy in my training and I want this to count for something more than just the race itself. I will be covering 35 miles, (58 km) over a two day period, and am asking you to sponsor each mile/ kilometre / step I take....

Our charity this year is The Heart Foundation, I hope you will give generously if you think this is a worthwhile cause.

Thank you. I really appreciate your support and will post pictures of the final event after it is complete.

Trudi Holder