I started at Bovey Tracey town hall just after 10am and straight into a really tough start of 8KM of uphill onto the moors to get up to Haytor. Part of the Templar Way is closed here forcing you to follow the road for a section and then drop back down onto the Templar way adding about 1KM in distance. Once up at Haytor you immediately drop down to cross a river and then have a steep climb back up, a theme for the whole route, including a never ending climb out of Widecombe-in-the-moor following a painful decent into town. Some time was lost navigating through the gorse down to Dartmeet having to go back on myself a few times, I’m sure there’s a better route for next time, but I eventually came out onto the road and pounded down the steep hill, a killer on the quads! This is where you pick up the Dartmoor way the leads all the way to the finish line in Tavistock, the first section being a long drag to Princetown, some runnable and some with just enough of a gradient to not be, the mast comes into view with about 5KM letting you know you’re close. Straight through Princetown and out the other side on the old railway and here I made another mistake taking the wrong path downhill off the railway and again having to go back on myself, this time back uphill. Eventually finding the correct route, the Dartmoor way is now mostly a decent with a few serious kickers all the way to Tavistock. The final hill is a short one at the end of Tavistock golf course, still enough at this late stage to slow me down to a hike. Finally coming down into Tavistock, I stopped outside the town hall 6 hours and 52 minutes after I started. I carried all my food and supplies and started with 3.5 litres of water in my pack, which was just enough on a humid day like this one. This meant a fully unsupported attempt, no stops for water, no searching for taps and no filling water up from streams. A beatable time and maybe one I will try myself to better in the future.