Devon relays
Double success
Winning juniors Kid Pro QO
Credit:
Chris Hasler
We had two triumphs in the rolling grounds of Knightshayes NT on Sunday. Our leading senior team Status QO won the By-Foot trophy awarded on a handicap basis. Kid Pro QO won the junior trophy.
Because of having a slightly older team, Status QO got to start two minutes ahead of the formidable Wessex Raiders. In a thrilling finale, we ended up finishing marginally ahead of both them and Ilsington Flyers, a Devon team.
Ignoring the handicap, Wessex Raiders beat us by one second!
Byfoot trophy
Sadly the quirky By-Foot Trophy, a plaster of Paris cast of the foot of the Beast of Dartmoor, was not available to be presented to us. Holders Bristol OK had won the trophy two season's running. But the omission took nothing away from a great day out at a nice event.
At the start of the race, each team had to fathom our a plan that meant all three runners would finish at roughly the same time. This involved allocating controls and scribbling on the map, which was difficult in the steady rain! Each team member needed to punch the 10 compulsory 'spine' controls which flowed round the grounds in a loop, while trying to allocate the remaining 20 controls between the team, accordingly to ability and speed.
Richard led with developing Status QO's race plan, and also took on more legs - eight to Jeff Pakes' and Matt Carter's six each. Matt displayed an ability to think on his feet, switching legs with Jeff three times in a bid to keep the plan on target as we headed clockwise round the lush grounds.
Phil, on his QO relays debut
Credit: Mark Lockett
Club captain Chris Hasler managed the teams from the sidelines.
His message to the teams was: "Thank you all for coming along today and putting on such great performances.
Two wins was amazing, and it was great to see the junior team step out of their comfort zone, and also to welcome newbies Phil & Sarah into the team. Well done everyone!"
All four teams
Credit: Chris Hasler
Results
| Team Name | Team handicap | Team Time taken | Penalty | After handicap & penalty | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSX Raiders | 10 | 00:34:40 | 00:24:40 | 3 | |
| Status QO | 12 | 00:34:41 | 00:22:41 | 1 | |
| Devon Dreamers | 13 | 00:37:01 | 00:30:00 | 00:54:01 | 7 |
| Devon Drifters | 15 | 00:43:40 | 00:28:40 | 4 | |
| Ilsington Flyers | 25 | 00:48:21 | 00:23:21 | 2 | |
| WSX Wanabees | 28 | 00:56:57 | 00:30:00 | 00:58:57 | 8 |
| QO's Feet | 10 | 01:00:20 | 00:50:20 | 6 | |
| QO Mumo | 23 | 01:06:06 | 00:43:06 | 5 | |
| Juniors | |||||
| Kid Pro Quo | 28 | 01:43:04 | 01:44:04 |
(By-) Footnote
An elusive beast? Well the trophy is based on a cast of the lesser-spotted Dartmoor Beast's footprint, after all.
It took three months but we finally got our hands on it - our last win at Devon was 13 years ago. The winning captain of Status QO, Richard Sansbury can be seen pictured below receiving the magnificent prize at September 2019's Caddihoe Chase.
Richard receiving the By-Foot Trophy from Alan Simpson of Devon OC
Credit: Brian Pearson