At nine o’clock on Sunday morning, the Tamar Bridge was wrapped in such thick mist that Devon had disappeared from view on the Cornwall side. It was an unlikely start to a warm, sunny race day. Once across the bridge, though, the mist gave way to blue sky, and Janet headed on to the 2026 Templer Ten in Devon.
Janet ran the ten-miler on Sunday 4 October, taking on a course of trails, woods and riverside paths around Stover Country Park. Congratulations, Janet — a lovely away-race adventure for Carn Runners, with quite a change of scenery before the running had even begun.
Ten miles beyond the Tamar
The Templer Ten is organised by Teignbridge Trotters. The race starts and finishes in the grounds of Stover School, near Newton Abbot, and the organisers describe its ten-mile route as 90% off-road. As well as passing through Stover Country Park, it takes runners into the fields at Teigngrace. That mix gives this event a different feel from a road ten-miler: the setting, rather than a stretch of tarmac, is at the heart of its appeal.
For Janet, the course brought trails, woodland and paths by the river. The bright skies were a welcome contrast with the view from the bridge earlier that morning, and the warmth stayed for the day. It is the sort of weather change anyone who has travelled out of Cornwall for a race will recognise, even if this one happened remarkably quickly.
Why Stover makes a memorable setting
Stover Country Park offers more than a woodland backdrop. Devon County Council describes a landscape of broadleaved woodland, conifers, heath, grassland and marsh, with Stover Lake at its centre. Its park information also points to the network of paths crossing the site. Those details help explain why a race through the area can offer so much variety within a single outing.
The park has a longer story, too. The history of Stover traces its landscape to the former Templer estate and describes the Templer Way, which passes through the country park. Janet’s race was its own ten-mile event, not a run of the entire Templer Way, but the setting gives the name a local connection.
A return visit — and a nod to the cakes
This was not Janet’s first Templer Ten: readers may remember her outing at the 2025 race. This year’s trip had its own memorable opening, with Cornwall hidden in mist and Devon waiting in the sunshine.
And yes, these are the Teignbridge Trotters of cake fame. The organisers proudly include their cakes among the race-day refreshments. We cannot say whether Janet sampled one this time, but the reputation clearly travelled across the Tamar with her. Well done to Janet for another Templer Ten, and to the Trotters for putting on another event that makes the journey worthwhile.
