Two West Devon friends beat the heat and the toughest terrain the Mediterranean could throw at them.

Dotty King, of Bere Alston, and Janice Fuller, of Buckland Monachorum, conquered a tough 15-mile mountain race with the heat possibly the biggest obstacle to those more acclimatised to a Devon winter.

At one point Dotty, an experienced off-road runner and trained coach, was nearly defeated by the heat, but battled on with her friend’s support.

The adventurous pair tackled the Corfu Mountain Trail, Olive Tree 24km run.

They took the precaution of arriving a few days earlier to acclimatise in the 28C heat and also to check out some of the route, ensuring they were both good to go on the day.

The course has a daunting 1,200m-plus elevation with rocky mini-ravines and dry river beds masquerading as paths. The race started at 5pm from Koinopiastes to ensure they did not run in the hottest daytime heat with at least some nighttime protection.

They ran towards the village of Agioi Deka, which had a welcome water supply station, then descended to the village of Garounas on a traditional dirt path that was not particularly technically challenging.

The pair then passed through huge olive groves to the village of Stavros, where the final central aid station and checkpoint were situated.

Leaving Stavros, things got more challenging runners descended a very difficult path which meant using poles, sitting down and lifting themselves down into deep channels and ruts where the river once ran down to the village of Benitses and then on up to the monastery of Agia Kyriaki next to the Achillion Palace.

From there, following the path of Yarda, the pair reached Perama and crossed the bridge to see Mouse Island (Pontikonisi) and the church of Vlaherena on the right.

They then ran up to Kanoni, passed by Mon Repo Resort and, reached the last kilometres from the beach of Garitsa up to the central square of Spianada to finish in front of Liston the central Square of Corfu town.

Dotty very nearly did not finish, but her resilience comprising mental strength and endurance training on Dartmoor paid off.

She said: “After a solid winter’s training in the cold and the wet, the 28C heat was going to be an issue.

“With a start of 1,800ft up into the mountain I quickly overheated and really struggled. I felt ill at mile two. I was dizzy and sick, almost retiring.

“But I had a serious word with myself and pushed on and felt better at the top of the mountain and well enough to cover the remaining 13-plus miles.”

Dotty added: “The terrain was some of the most difficult we have ever covered, with more climbs, deep rutted footpaths, using poles, negotiating snakes, using our own body weight to lift ourselves over drops and gaps in the ‘paths’ and losing the light at mile nine.”

But with head torches on and their metaphorical ‘big girl knickers’ pulled up to their chins, they climbed 3,500m overall, made the cut-off and finished in five hours 40 minutes out of 26 ladies and 72 men who completed the Olive Trail, while about further 20per cent did not finish.

Dotty said: “It was a great run which pushed us to the limit but was filled with lots of laughs and has made the best memories.”