On Boxing Day 2008 Ben Price, who was then living in Truro, organised the first Trelissick 10K multi terrain race and six years later Price, who now lives in Cheltenham and runs for Cheltenham & County Harriers, once again returned to Trelissick, winning ‘his race’ by almost one and a half minutes.

The Trelissick race now forms part of the Cornish Multi Terrain Race Series, sponsored by Personal Best Running, St Austell and if there were awards for the most scenic race location in the county, then surely this event overlooking Carrick Roads and the Fal estuary, would be in contention for the gold medal.

Over one hundred and eighty runners lined up on a ‘start line to beat all start lines’, adjacent to the imposing mid 18th century portico fronted Trelissick House, with the opening stages of the race taking the runners around the undulations of the National Trust owned Trelissick Estate.

Great Britain duathlon international Price, tested the leaders over the opening mile and as the leaders left the estate and headed for the paths across the fields and through the woodland of the neighbouring area, he had already opened up a thirty metre gap over Paul Whear (Carn Runners), with another runner with local connections Robert Prady, in close pursuit.

As a young county runner Prady, who at the time lived in Falmouth, ran for the Duchy of Cornwall Athletic Club and these days his ‘return to the homeland’ often coincides with a race.

With the runners out of sight for most of the way, there were no surprises for the spectators as Price re-entered the estate and cruised to victory, followed by Whear, who has shown a huge improvement in his form this year.

The Carn Runner also won his 45-49 age group, which was only to be expected from the 2014 Cornwall Grand Prix champion elect in this age group. Prady finished in third place, with James Whetman (Thames Hare & Hounds) in fourth, one of the five holiday making finishers in the top ten, all wearing their ‘out of county’ club vests.

The Ladies race bore a distinct similarity to the Men’s event with another Cornish born winner, Alice Heather-Hayes (Tunbridge Wells AC). Alice who now lives in Kent hails from St Ervan near Padstow and can boast impressive times over a wide range of distances from 3000 metres (10.37.36) to the marathon (3.08.54).

In a quality Ladies field Truro Running Club’s international ultra distance runner Izzy Wykes, perhaps finding the 10K distance a little to short, finished well behind Heather-Hayes in second place but well ahead of Lucy Mancer (St Austell Running Club), with another former Duchy of Cornwall star runner in her youth, the rapidly improving Cornwall AC runner, Jenny O’Brien (nee Williams), in fourth place.

The runners up in both races, Paul Whear and Izzy Wykes, led their respective teams to victory. In the Men’s event Carn Runners from Camborne posted a well deserved and rare victory finishing fourteen points ahead of Newquay Road Runners, with third placed Cornwall AC a further six points adrift of the mid Cornwall club.

The Truro Running Club’s Ladies packed well with three finishers in the top ten, scoring the low total of thirty one points, which put them comfortably ahead of second placed Cornwall AC (54 points), with Carn Runners (67 points) in third position.

The Men’s runner up, the former Falmouth based runner Prady ( first 35-39), was the first finisher with local connections and he led no less than five age group winners from the local area. The Mile High club boasted two champions, both in the 50-54 age group.

Katherine Martin won her section by a comfortable thirty one seconds and teammate Mick Chapman took his age group by storm, finishing over two minutes clear of his nearest rival.

As expected Janet Watson (Falmouth Road Runners) scooped yet another category prize in her 60-64 section and Helston’s Karen Harrison (Cornwall AC) was also an easy winner of the 45-49 age group. Falmouth’s Paul Gwynne completed the local prize winners but had to be satisfied with bronze in the 45-49 category, missing out on silver by just thirteen seconds. Spare a thought for another Falmouth runner, Richard O’Keefe, who finished fifteenth overall, just missing out on an age group award in fourth position.

KEY FOR CLUBS BR Bude Rats, BRR Bodmin Road Runners, CAC Cornwall AC, CCH Cheltenham & County Harriers, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, FRR Falmouth Road Runners, KR Kenilworth Runners, LRR Launceston Road Runners, MBH Mounts Bay Harriers, MH Mile High, MTC Malvern Triathlon Club, NFR New Forest Runners, NRR Newquay Road Runners, NBH Nene Valley Harriers, SL Stainland Lions, STA St Austell Running Club, THH Thames Hare & Hounds, TL Tri Logic, TRC Truro Running Club, TWAC Tunbridge Wells AC, U Unattached, WJ Watford Joggers.

RESULTS Men: 1 Ben Price CCH 36.18, 2 Paul Whear CR 37.46, 3 Robert Prady NBH 38.14, 4 James Whetman THH 38.55, 5 Alex Daniels NRR 38.59, 6 Colin Snook CAC 39.10, 7 Jonny Colaco NRR 39.36, 8 Liam Gallantry ECH 39.38, 9 Matt Higham SL 39.45, 10 Stuart Hopkins KR 40.08. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Ben Price, 2 Liam Gallantry, 3 Dominic Bateman BRR 40.17. 35-39: 1 Robert Prady, 2 James Whetman, 3 Colin Snook. 40-44: 1 Alex Daniels, 2 Jonny Colaco, 3 Matt Higham. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear, 2 Phil Bolt CAC 43.14, 3 Paul Gwynne FRR 43.27. 50-54: 1 Mick Chapman MH 40.22, 2 Mark Dorrell CR 42.44, 3 Alan Wherry STA 44.53. 55-59: 1 Peter Allen NRR 46.44, 2 Ian Wright CAC 47.11, 3 Roger Watson-Hall NFR 49.30. 60-64: 1 Stephen Hutchinson BR 49.04, 2 Roy Hart MTC 51.52, 3 John Tilley U 55.59. 65-69: 1 Peter Uren MBH 48.46, 2 Ian Ringer BRR 49.21, 3 Pat Lockett NRR 50.21. 70-74: 1 Norris Kington CAC 68.10. 75+: 1 Peter Mander LRR 62.48. Teams: 1 Carn Runners 64 points, 2 Newquay Road Runners 78 points, 3 Cornwall AC 84 points.

Ladies: 1 Alice Heather-Hayes TWAC 41.27, 2 Izzy Wykes TRC 44.07, 3 Lucy Mancer STA 45.30, 4 Jenny O’Brien CAC 45.51, 5 Wendy Chapman TRC 46.20, 6 Janna Eyre CR 47.55, 7 Isabel Boyd U 48.49, 8 Nancy Sheppard U 48.53, 9 Rachael Thomas CAC 49.29, 10 Catheryn Camborieux TRC 49.44. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Jane Eyre, 2 Isabel Boyd, 3 Holly Eadsforth U 50.01. 35-39: 1 Alice Heather-Hayes, 2 Izzy Wykes, 3 Lucy Mancer. 40-44: 1 Nancy Sheppard, 2 Rachael Thomas, 3 Catheryn Camborieux. 45-49: 1 Karen Harrison CAC 52.17, 2 Rachel Broomhead U 55.34, 3 Jackie Brydon U 56.11. 50-54: 1 Katherine Martin MH 51.10, 2 Isobel Waterhouse BR 51.41, 3 Hanne-brit Smethurst TRC 55.04. 55-59: 1 Carol Penberthy TL 59.01, 2 Judy Jameson CR 66.15, 3 Linda McQuaid WJ 67.49. 60-64: 1 Janet Watson FRR 54.20. 65-69: 1 Mary Mullarkey ECH 56.59. Teams: 1 Truro Running Club 31 points, 2 Cornwall AC 54 points, 3 Carn Runners 67 points, 4 St Austell Running Club 92 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 119 points.