Living half way along the route, I’m always left with the dilemma, shall I run the whole TCT east to west or west to east or half of it out and back. This particular Saturday being home alone as the better half was out beavering away at work, I was left with the age-old dilemma house work or run. So, within 5 mins I had packed my running bag with flasks and jelly baby’s and had come up with a plan. I would catch the next bus which came through the village and run the TCT. Fortunately for me I only had a 30mins wait before the 1030 bus from Launceston to Exeter can bobbling along the road. Decision made, I was going to run East to West starting in Okehampton and finishing up in Launceston. Once on the bus, a challenge started to form in my head and after a quick look through the bus time table, it aspired I had exactly 3hrs and 30mis before the next bus home left Launceston. The race was on. I knew it was possible as my pb for the TCW was 3hrs 25min, although as you are fully aware 5mins can easily be lost on a 24m hilly run. As the bus dropped down into Okehampton, I was preparing myself, shoe laces tied into a double knot (no time to tie shoe laces on this run) race pack on, straps tightened, jelly baby preload, I was ready. Doors opened I was off. Then it suddenly dawned on me I had almost a mile to run to get to the start. O well that’s the spare 5mins gone.
Starting at the gates of Okehampton Castle, the route crossers the West Okement River then followers the river valley west, first through the old deer park, then across a golf course then fields before crossing the river again in Meldon’s enchanted bluebell wood. Although the first 4 miles are all up hill it’s not until this point you notice your first real climb. The route leaves the river valley and over the next 2 miles steadily climbs to its highest point and the stunning open moorland scenery of Sourton Tors. Luckily just as the gradient starts to become a real issue and the imposing summit looms over you, the path detours under Sourton’s craggy features and starts its long decent. (The excursion to top of Sourton Tors is defiantly worth a visit with its far-reaching views across North Devon and out over Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor, but not toady as I had a bus to catch). Over the next 2 miles you lose all the elevation you gained over the first 4 which makes for easy running, although your rhythm is disrupted over the first section by the many annoying gates, styles and rather large ladder styles that would be more at home on the Krypton Factor assault course (blimey that’s a blast from the past). But once past these you hit your first section of tarmac as you descend down into, then climb back out of Bridestowe before dropping into Watergate where the tarmac is swapped for woodland trails and the next big climb. Eventually the long climb leads you on to Burley Down followed by another short section of pine and beech plantation tracks before crossing over to Galford Down and the decent into the Lew valley. The crossing of the Lew River is exactly half way and with a quick check of the watch (1hr 32mins) and a lot of basic arithmetic, thought yes, the challenge is on. The next large climb leads you up to the metropolis of Lewdown and the start of the second half of the run. The 2nd half of the trail feels a lot more agricultural as you pass through first the Thrushel then the Wolf valleys and although there’s no real big climbs to attend with the footpaths are that little bit less worn making them that little bit lumpier and harder going (and of course you have 15-18miles in your legs). At 17.5miles you leave the footpaths behind and hit the tarmac which is your friend for 5 out of the final 6 miles. Although its not all plan sailing as the next 2 miles is a long drag up through Lifton finally topping out past Liftondown before the steep decent and the start of the last stretch of off-road plodding. Its was at Lifton that another quick check of the watch (2hrs 29mins) and a lot more basic arithmetic was undertaken to see if catching the bus was actually doable. As once past Lifton, I had to catch the bus or my 25-mile run would turn into a 35-mile expedition to get home and my legs were certainly not up for that. The decision was made 5 miles in 55mins was more than achievable so Launceston here we come. The last section of footpath leads you to Polson where you cross the Tamar into Cornwall. With only 2 miles left (all on the hard stuff) and 2hrs 52mins on the watch my thoughts changed from catching the bus (that was in the bag) to sub 3hrs 10ins and new pb. What I had forgot about was the final little climb up into Launceston. It might only be a third of a mile long but it’s probably the steepest climb on the run and a real leg masher. As you finally stagger over the top your greeted by Launceston town wall which you pass under leaving you only a few hundred meters to hop and skip to the finish. In reality it was more like a zombie shuffle finally stopping the watch on 3hrs 10mins (amazingly only 46sec slower than my PB in the opposite direction). A new east to west pb by 15mins and the smugness knowing I didn’t have to walk home. Win Win