Taunton School entered three teams into the annual Ten Tors event this year: two teams in the 35 mile category drawn from Year 10 students and one in the 45 mile category drawn predominantly made up of Year 12 students.

The Ten Tors challenge truly began back in the cold dark days of January when 40 pupils signed up for the arduous and demanding training and selection process.

The first training event the students took part in is the notorious ‘Quantock Killer’ which sees the teams compete to accrue the most vertical metres gained in six hours by crisscrossing the Quantocks. The aim of this is to assess the pupil’s endurance and mental resilience to keep going in what is often tough conditions. The pupils then conduct a further five days of training including overnight camps on Dartmoor to prepare them as much as possible for the main event at the end of April.

The final teams were selected and travelled to Dartmoor on Friday 28th April to enjoy the festival atmosphere as 2,500 young people from across the South West took over the Okehampton Battle Camp. At the crack of dawn they gathered on the hillside above the camp and as the Chaplin read the Ten Tors prayer and the Brigadier gave his starting address.

Staff and parents nervously followed the updates on GPS trackers whilst drinking endless cups of tea. All three teams competed brilliantly with both the 35-mile teams leading their respective routes, and the 45-mile team achievening their milestones on time.

Although just completing the event is the main aim, all three teams exceeded expectations with the first 35-mile group crossing the line joint 4th, an hour ahead of the next team on the same route and the second 35-mile group also finishing over an hour ahead of their pack. The 45-mile group also crossed the line in good time achievening their planned time.

Well done to all teams that took part and a big thank you to the staff that gave up their weekend to support the event.