Dartmoor Discovery
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The Dartmoor Discovery is an ultramarathon run around Dartmoor in early June (recently the first Saturday in June). The race is entirely on roads. It starts and finishes in Princetown, famous as the home of Dartmoor Prison. The current distance is 52.115 km (32 miles 674 yards). Entrants are required to have completed a Marathon on an 'average' course in less than 5 hours (or something equivalent). The 2018 race was the 20th running of the race. There is a limit of 260 entries for the race.
The main features of the race are the delightful countryside of Dartmoor and the associated hills. The total rise of the hills is about 1200 metres (nearly 4000 ft). Because of the hills, times are typically about 50% longer than those of a flat Marathon, even though the course is only 10 km longer than a Marathon.
There are 10 refreshment stations at which water is provided. Facilities are made available for the runners to take their own food and/or drinks from the start to these stations.
The race was first run in 1998 on a slightly longer course (54.918 km, 34 miles 219 yards) which involved the final section from Two Bridges to Princetown going past Dartmoor Prison instead of on the direct route. The same course was used in 1999 and 2000. It was also used in 2018 to celebrate the twentieth running of the event.
The race was cancelled in 2001 because of the Foot and Mouth outbreak and 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2002, the race has been run on the current, slightly shorter route (the only exception being in 2018 as noted above).