Cornwall’s intrepid band of road runners made their way to the far north of the county on Sunday morning for the Treggy 7 mile race, with its picture postcard finish area in the grounds of Launceston Castle.

This race, round eleven of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing, attracted a record field of four hundred and forty three runners with a couple of local runners leading the charge from the town centre on the steep downhill to the Newport area of the town.

Once the pace had settled and the runners turned to run along the quiet roads of the Kensey Valley, Chris Rimmer (Plymouth Harriers) and Emma Stepto (Cornwall AC) soon began to take charge in their respective Men’s and Ladies races.

After two miles this race begins in earnest with the infamous one mile climb up to the village of Tregadillet testing runners of all abilities. Rimmer, who admitted after the race to enjoy the challenge of the hills, was in his element, moving well clear of Justin Thomas (Cornwall AC) and Aaron Benney (Mile High), as the leaders approached the three mile point. Benney briefly passed Thomas as these two battled for the runner’s up spot but the Cornwall AC man soon regained second place, although he had to work hard to hold off the fast finishing Mile High Man, crossing the line just four seconds in front of his rival.

Both runners were over one minute behind the winner who said after the race, “I really enjoyed the course and was pleased with the time, as I am on my way back from injury. The race was well marshalled and generally very well organised.”

Jordan Morant (Hayle Runners) continues to enjoy a rich vein of form occupying fourth place from the early stages of the race, with Helston’s Paul Whear (Cornwall AC) finishing in fifth position, just four seconds behind, after passing Tim Robinson from the host club in the last mile. Jordan Clay (Cornwall AC), who has recently returned to his studies at Falmouth University, showed up well in his first race for a while, finishing seventh, with another local runner from the Cornwall AC club, Falmouth’s Paul Smith, crossing the line in an unusually low sixteenth position and having to admit that jet lag after a very recent return from America might just have affected his performance. Steven Strachan was the lone Falmouth runner in the top fifty, finishing twenty eighth, with Mile High’s Tom Howell thirty first.

There were only two local age group prize winners, Benney and Whear, who not surprisingly won their respective 35-39 and 45-49 categories,

Stepto, feeling a little tired from training as she prepares for her next marathon in October, once again only had the men for company, doing enough to win the race for the sixth time in the last seven years. Emma Paull, slowly regaining fitness, was a couple of minutes behind Stepto and almost two minutes clear of third placed Samantha Lake (Tavistock AC).

Interestingly the top three team positions were identical in both the Men’s and Ladies races, with Cornwall AC continuing on their winning way, lifting both team titles, ahead of the most consistent runner’s up club, Hayle Runners.

What a difference home advantage makes with Launceston Road Runners fielding thirty five runners, beating their previous 2016 highest turn out at Cubert in June (20 runners). Not only did the host club finish third in both the Men’s and Ladies races but achieved two podium places for the first time this year.

KEY FOR CLUBS

BID Bideford AC, BRR Bodmin Road Runners, CAC Cornwall AC, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, EXH Exmouth Harriers, HR Hayle Runners, LP Looe Pioneers, LRR Launceston Road Runners, MBH Mounts Bay Harriers, MH Mile High, NRR Newquay Road Runners, PH Plymouth Harriers, STA St Austell Running Club, TAV Tavistock AC, TOT Totton Running Club, TRC Truro Running Club, TT Tamer Trotters, U Unattached.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Chris Rimmer PH 38.45, 2 Justin Thomas CAC 39.49, 3 Aaron Benney MH 39.54, 4 Jordan Morant HR 40.43, 5 Paul Whear CAC 40.47, 6 Tim Robinson LRR 41.00, 7 Jordan Clay CAC 41.19, 8 Thomas Humphrey PH 42.05, 9 Declan Cullingford U 42.14, 10 John McWilliams MBH 42.16. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Chris Rimmer, 2 Jordan Morant, 3 Tim Robinson. 35-39: 1 Aaron Benney, 2 Alex Peyton-Jones PH 43.21, 3 Paul Sole CAC 43.49. 40-44: 1 Justin Thomas, 2 Alex Daniels NRR 42.27, 3 Scott Abraham HR 42.48. 45-49: 1 Paul Whears, 2 David Beckenkrager PH 42.23, 3 Andrew Pearson BID 47.01. 50-54: 1 Steve Wherry CAC 42.42, 2 Rich Savage HR 43.36, 3 Glynn Davis CR 45.15. 55-59: 1 Martin Exley-Deane TAV 46.45, 2 Laurie Lee STA 48.44, 3 Chris Fitkin MBH 50.30. 60-64: 1 Malcolm Roberts STA 49.53, 2 Peter Bazley TAV 521.21, 3 Robert Pick ECH 53.56. 65-69: 1 John Gossan LP 54.07, 2 Nigel Eagling TRC 57.29, 3 Ian Ringer BRR 60.00. 70-74: 1 John Lillis NRR 58.15, 2 Stewart Townend HR 58.32, 3 Peter Heywood LP 60.24. 75+: 1 Ray Elston EXH 57.27, 2 Norris Kington CAC 70.36. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 60 points, 2 Hayle Runners 151 points, 3 Launceston Road Runners 200 points, 4 Truro Running Club 258 points, 5 Plymouth Harriers 260 points. Men Veterans 50+: 1 Hayle Runners 80 points, 2 East Cornwall Harriers 88 points, 3 Tamar Trotters 92 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 42.27, 2 Emma Paull HR 44.47, 3 Samantha Lake TAV 46.33, 4 Kathryn Burgess CAC 46.40, 5 Heidi Tregenza CAC 47.07, 6 Wendy Chapman TRC 47.15, 7 Hannah Astley U 48.05, 8 Jeanette Johnson LRR 48.15, 9 Jessica Buscombe STA 48.38, 10 Emma Murray STA 48.48. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Emma Paull, 2 Heidi Tregenza, 3 Jessica Buscombe. 35-39: 1 Samantha Lake, 2 Kathryn Burgess, 3 Hannah Astley. 40-44: 1 Wendy Chapman, 2 Charlotte Bennett HR 50.515, 3 Faye Savage HR 51.10. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Donna Raggett CAC 49.28, 3 Anne Waller MBH 49.47. 50-54: 1 Jeannette Johnson, 2 Emma Murray, 3 Debbie Nugent CR 51.35. 55-59: 1 Jane Lockyer ECH 57.47, 2 Fran Long HR 64.58, 3 Judy Jameson CR 66.11. 60-64: 1Sue Taylor MBH 59.44, 2 Eleanor Ellison NRR 59.47, 3 Diane Warren HR 63.48. 65-69: 1 Jackie Jenkin CAC 71.42, 2 Susan Mason TT 73.54, 3 Patricia Tabenor PH 79.13. 70+: 1 Jane Pitt TOT 74.32. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 68 points, 2 Hayle Runners 117 points, 3 Launceston Road Runners 235 points, 4 Carn Runners 270 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 315 points. Ladies Veterans 50+: 1 Launceston Road Runners 51 points, 2 Tamar Trotters 68 points, 3 Carn Runners 75 points.