STICKER'S 5 mile road race, round six of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing, produced its customary cool, blustery conditions, which did little to deter the 345 runners lining up at the start line on Saturday evening.

After the usual fast start one of a small number of visitors to the race, Brahma Pochee (Highgate Harriers), who was spending the weekend with his brother Ben in at Hayle and Colin Snook (Cornwall AC) emerged from the pack and were moving clear of the rest by the one mile mark.

They remained locked in combat, running shoulder to shoulder until the steep hill half a mile from the finish, when the Highgate Harrier applied the pressure, edging ahead of Godolphin School’s teacher Snook, winning by fifteen metres. Snook, who did win the Veteran’s 40-44 trophy, is the ‘nearly man’ at Sticker with a second successive second place to add to another runners up spot five years ago.

After the race he said, “I thought I might have edged the victory today but would you believe it, I lost the race on the very same part of the steep hill as last year not far from the finish.”

The race for third position was even closer, with two more Cornwall AC runners, Justin Thomas and Helston’s Paul Whear running together from the gun to one hundred metres from the tape, before Thomas managed to open the smallest of gaps crossing the line one second ahead of his team mate. Whear did have the consolation of winning the Veteran’s 45-49 first prize,

Daniel Costello (Hayle Runners) finished fifth, nine seconds ahead of sixth placed Falmouth University student Jonny Dry (Cornwall AC). With four runners in the top six and close support coming from the Under 20 winner 15 year old Sam Goodchild (11th) and Mark Webster (13th), Cornwall AC (39 points) achieved their fifth Grand Prix win of the year, out of the six races held to date. Hayle Runners (76 points) packed well, finishing their six scorers in the top twenty one positions, with these two clubs well clear of third placed Truro Running Club (211 points).

Tom Carthey (Falmouth Road Runners) continues his recent run of good form, finishing eighth, with teammates David Crowsley (19th) and James Barnet (21st).

Despite an injury hit 2015, continuing into 2016, Emma Stepto always seems to be fit enough to tackle the tough 5 miler at Sticker, winning last Saturday evening, her seventh victory seventh in the last eight years.

Behind Stepto it was a battle between Cornwall’s star ultra distance Ladies Wendy Chapman (Truro Running Club) and Zelah Morrall (Cornwall AC). Just two weeks previously Morrall won the Ladies section of the 44 mile Classic Quarter on the coastal path from the Lizard to Lands End beating Chapman, who finished third, by over twenty six minutes but it was the Truro runner who seems to have made a better recovery, not only winning the challenging Meet Your Max Multi Terrain 10K race three days before Sticker but beating Morrall to clinch the runner’s up spot last Saturday evening by twenty seven seconds, with the Cornwall AC lady crossing the line in third position, fourteen seconds clear of Emma Paull (Hayle Runners).

In the Ladies team competition Cornwall AC runners occupied five of the top ten places, with Charlotte Hurst (16th) completing the scorers. This was enough to ensure another victory for the club’s Ladies team (40 points), with Hayle Runners again finishing in second place, fifty eight points adrift of the winners. These two clubs were well clear of the rest, with Carn Runners (214 points) slipping into third place. The Falmouth Ladies team did well to finish fifth ahead of some more fancied clubs.

The local highlight in the age categories came in the men’s under-20 age group, with two highly promising Penryn College youngsters enjoying superb results. Fifteen year old Sam Goodchild (Cornwall AC) had a cracking run, finishing 11th overall, with Floyd Ratcliffe, who does his club running for Hayle Runners, finishing second in this category and 20th overall.

There were further age group prizes for Falmouth’s mother and daughter Cassandra Ashwin and her mum Kathran Dormer, with the younger member of the family finishing third in the 35-39 category and mum second in the 65-69 section. The Helston based husband and wife Peter and Carole Drew, who run for Carn Runners, Camborne, both finishied third in their respective 65-69 age groups. In the 45-49 section Helston’s Jason Webb (Cornwall AC) was third.

The race organisers once again were most grateful to the principal sponsor Andrew Toms, Hewaswater Garage for his continued support of this race and to the twelve additional sponsors who contributed to another successful Sticker 5 mile event.

KEY FOR CLUBS

BRR Bodmin Road Runners, CAC Cornwall AC, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, FRR Falmouth Road Runners, HH Highgate Harriers, HR Hayle Runners, LP Looe Pioneers, LRR Launceston Road Runners, MBH Mounts Bay Harriers, NRR Newquay Road Runners, STA St Austell Running Club, TRC Truro Running Club, U Unattached.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Brahma Pochee HH 26.49, 2 Colin Snook CAC 26.44, 3 Justin Thomas CAC 28.03, 4 Paul Whear CAC 28.04, 5 Daniel Costello HR 28.25, 6 Jonny Dry CAC 28.34, 7 Thomas Humphrey HR 28.46, 8 Tom Carthey FRR 28.48, 9 Jordan Morant HR 28.56, 10 Marc Smeardon ECH 29.19. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Sam Goodchild CAC 29.39, 2 Floyd Ratcliffe HR 30.06, 3 Alex Coley ECH 34.27. Under 35: 1 Brahma Pochee, 2 Daniel Costello, 3 Jonny Dry. 35-39: 1 Paul Sole CAC 29.58, 2 Wayne Sara TRC 31.08, 3 John Sole BRR 31.31. 40-44: 1 Colin Snook, 2 Justin Thomas, 3 Chris Barrett TRC 29.47. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear, 2 Stephen Hands STA 31.26, 3 Jason Webb CAC 32.35. 50-54: 1 Rich Savage HR 30.42, 2 Glynn Davis CR 32.26, 3 Brian Abbott STA 34.03. 55-59: 1 Barrie Cardew CR 33.14, 2 Michael Wilson TRC 33.54, 3 Ian Crowle ECH 35.07. 60-64: 1 Simon Webber ECH 34.07, 2 Malcolm Roberts STA 34.29, 3 Neville Witham CAC 35.08. 65-69: 1 Brian Wiles LRR 35.23, 2 Pat Lockett NRR 38.27, 3 Peter Drew CR 40.57. 70-74: 1 Pete Sargent NRR 39.41, 2 John Lillis NRR 40.20, 3 Peter Heywood LP 41.19. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 39 points, 2 Hayle Runners 76 points, 3 Truro Running Club 211 points, 4 St Austell Running Club 244 points, 5 Carn Runners 249 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 29.51, 2 Wendy Chapman TRC 31.26, 3 Zelah Morrall CAC 31.54, 4 Emma Paull HR 32.08, 5 Amy Sole CAC 32.39, 6 Kathryn Burgess CAC 33.57, 7 Jeanette Johnson LRR 33.59, 8 Revis Crowle ECH 34.34, 9 Laura Rogers CAC 35.07, 10 Amy Jose HR 35.10. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Emily Bennett HR 42.29, 2 Lucie Kempna U 42.58, 3 Jessica Goldberg LRR 44.00. Under 35: 1 Emma Paull, 2 Amy Sole, 3 Laura Rogers. 35-39: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Ellen Goldring U 38.16, 3 Cassandra Ashwin FRR 39.24. 40-44: 1 Wendy Chapman, 2 Charlotte Bennett HR 35.12, 3 Faye Savage HR 36.02. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Zelah Morrall, 3 Anne Waller MBH 35.48. 50-54: 1 Jeanette Johnson, 2 Revis Crowle, 3 Debbie Nugent CR 36.30. 55-59: 1 Jeanette Duncan NRR 40.22, 2 Ann Senior HR 44.40, 3 Fran Long HR 44.59. 60-64: 1 Eleanor Ellison NRR 42.37, 2 Sue Taylor MBH 42.40, 3 Diane Warren HR 42.44. 65-69: 1 Jackie Jenkin CAC 50.29, 2 Kathran Dormer FRR 51.59, 3 Carole Drew CR 54.08. 70+: 1 Val Hawken NRR 67.05. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 40 points, 2 Hayle Runners 98 points, 3 Carn Runners 214 points, 4 Launceston Road Runners 233 points, 5 Falmouth Road Runners 238 points.