28 Jul King of the Mountains Matt beats the beacons
Having celebrated the success of some of its sprinters last week, the plaudits from South Devon Athletic Club this week go to its very own Doyen of Distance, Matt Dalton.
The master of mileage took on the GB Ultras Beacons Way race, covering 100 ‘undulating’ miles of the Brecon Beacons.
The race started at Abergavenny Castle and headed west to take in 10 checkpoints including the summit of Pen-y-Fan, the highest point in South Wales.
Still smiling as he crested the summit, Matt went on to finish the course at Llangadog in 35 hours and seven minutes.
Not quite as hilly, but still a challenge on a hot summer evening, the club’s own Scadson Screamer formed the latest round of the SDAC in-house Grand Prix series.
The route takes runners from Occombe Farm down through Scadson Woods to Hollicombe before turning them round for the return climb up through the trees.
Winner of the 2025 edition was Colin Peters in a time of 21m 16s for the down-and-back course. He was followed home by Rob Foster in 21m 24s and Mark Carter in 22m 01s. First lady was Yvonne Odell, ahead of Tracy Elford and Alison Ford.
Also tackling the race were Marc Walpot, James Spalding, Daniel Tagg, Vince Langdon, Neil Jordain, James Nash, Matthew Senior, Roger Webb, Brian Marjoram and Heather Coverdale.
James Nash currently leads the men’s standings in the series from Roger Webb and Shaun Kirk. Leading lady is Dani Waters, from Yvonne Odell and Heather Coverdale.