Another day, another record entry, with 492 runners lining up last Sunday beside the boating lake in Helston for the An Res 10 mile multi terrain race, round five of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing.

What a performance from the men’s winner Peter Le Grice (Mounts Bay Harriers), who took the race by storm making light work of the off road sections and the strong winds, especially on the uphill stretch from Gunwalloe to the main road skirting RNAS Culdrose, winning in a course record time of 53 minutes 37 seconds.

Le Grice certainly seems to have benefited from his six-week training stint at altitude in Kenya, as he continues preparation for next month’s London Marathon.

After the race he was asked if he felt at all tired from his victory the previous day in the Westward Cross Country League at Redruth School, “Oh yes,” he added “I hadn’t really thought much about that. Certainly the double header this weekend was a confidence booster for me. I am now hoping to make the Bristol and West team for the National 12 Stage Road Relay Championships in two weeks time and then off to London. I have recently been asked to be an Ambassador for At Your Pace, the running specialist shop in Helston.

"I was very proud to be asked and will do my best to do justice to the support from At Your Pace, a business which does so much to promote running in Cornwall, both through a few individuals who are as fortunate as myself and by working with many local clubs.”

Last Year’s winner Godolphin School’s Colin Snook, pacing himself carefully after his cross country exploits at Redruth on the previous day, finished a distant second to the in-form Le Grice, adding: “That was a tough one today. I planned to follow Aaron Benney (Mile High) until around seven miles and then over the flatter and eventually downhill final three miles increase the pace and run hard for the runner’s up spot.”

The Mile High man was well clear in third place, followed home by Jordan Morant (Hayle Runners), with Tom Carthey (Falmouth Road Runners) in fifth place, saying after the race, “ I was really pleased with my run today after the cross country race yesterday. Perhaps two races in two days suit me!”

Falmouth’s Jacob Dobson produced his best Grand Prix performance to date in seventh position, two places ahead of Andrew Martin (Mile High).

The Ladies race produced a surprise, with the 2013 winner Zelah Morrall getting the better of Emma Stepto making it a one-two for Cornwall AC.

Stepto, feeling the effects of the previous days cross country exertions, commented after the race “I haven’t run this race since 2010 and today was hard work in the blustery conditions. Zelah certainly deserved to win, despite having a slight foot injury. I wish her the best of luck as she once again puts the finishing touches to another London Marathon, injury permitting!”

The improving Heidi Tregenza (Cornwall AC) another who has raced twice this weekend, moved through strongly in the final few miles to clinch third place, giving Cornwall AC a clean sweep of the podium positions.

Emma Paull (Hayle Runners), probably still feeling the effects of jet lag after her return a few days ago from a couple of weeks altitude training in Kenya, finishing fourth, with another Cornwall AC runner, Amy Sole, just five seconds behind in fifth place.

Cornwall AC continue to dominate the team competition, with the club’s very strong Ladies squad finishing first and second, ahead of Hayle Runners who were just seven points behind the Cornwall AC ‘B’ team.

The Men’s team race was once again much more keenly contested. Cornwall AC won for the third time this year and were once again pressurised by the small but competitive Mile High boys from Penryn.

The battle for third spot proved to be very close with Falmouth Road Runners, Hayle Runners and Newquay Road runners separated by just seven points. After close scrutiny of the finishing positions the Falmouth team were awarded their second successive Grand Prix third position, this time just one point ahead of Hayle, with Newquay three points behind Hayle, just missing out on the prizes.

There was the usual Mile High clean sweep of the prizes in the Men’s 35-39 category, won by Benney, with Martin second and Richard Pascoe third. Cornwall AC’s Snook and sixth finisher Paul Whear won their respective Veteran 40-44 and 45-49 categories, with Helston’s Peter Drew finishing third in the 65-69 age group, A couple of Falmouth Ladies were also amongst the Veteran prizes. Jackie Cope finished second in the 60-64 category for the third time this year, having also won two previous races in this age group at Looe and Falmouth and not surprisingly currently leads this section. In the 40-44 category, Emma Mossop was third.

KEY FOR CLUBS

BRR Bodmin Road Runners, CAC Cornwall AC, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, FRR Falmouth Road Runners, HR Hayle Runners, LRR Launceston Road Runners, MBH Mounts Bay Harriers, MH Mile High, NRR Newquay Road Runners, OKE Okehampton Running Club, STA St Austell Running Club, U Unattached.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Peter Le Grice MBH 53.37 Course Record, 2 Colin Snook 57.20, 3 Aaron Benney MH 57.42, 4 Jordan Morant HR 58.51, 5 Tom Carthey FRR 59.08, 6 Paul Whear CAC 59.22, 7 Jacob Dobson FRR 59.26, 8 Dave Bartlett NRR 1.00.01, 9 Andrew Martin MH 1.00.25, 10 Peter Devenport OKE 1.00.58. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Peter Le Grice, 2 Jordan Morant, 3 Tom Carthey. 35=39: 1 Aaron Benney, 2 Andrew Martin, 3 Richard Pascoe MH 1.01.43. 40-44: 1 Colin Snook, 2 Alex Daniels NRR 1.01.17, 3 Simon Williams STA 1.01.38. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear, 2 Scott Abraham HR 1.01.15, 3 Phil Montgomery-Smith STA 1.04.15. 50-54: 1 Tony Wright NRR 1.03.00, 2 Glynn Davis CR 1.06.02, 3 Andrew Eddison CAC 1.06.31. 55-59: 1 Martin Davis NRR 1.10.23, 2 David Philp ECH 1.10.24, 3 Laurie Lee STA 1.10.26. 60-64: 1 Malcolm Roberts STA 1.13.32, 2 Simon Webber ECH 1.13.44, 3 Iain Walker STA 1.15.12. 65-69: 1 Geoff Letchford MBH 1.13.25, 2 Robert Richards HR 1.18.17, 3 Peter Drew CR 1.27.00. 70-74: 1 Brian Wiles LRR 1.17.15, 2 Pat Lockett NRR 1.22.22, 3 Stewart Townend HR 1.25.22. 75-79: 1 Norris Kington CAC 1.50.05. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 82 points, 2 Mile High 113 points, 3 Falmouth Road Runners 153 points, 4 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 154 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 157 points, 6 St Austell Running Club 218 points, 7 Mounts Bay Harriers 230 points, 8 Truro Running Club 322 points, 9 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 360 points, 10 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 464 points.

Ladies: 1 Zelah Morrall CAC 1.03.28, 2 Emma Stepto CAC 1.04.37, 3 Heidi Tregenza CAC 1.06.09, 4 Emma Paull HR 1.06.48, 5 Amy Sole CAC 1.06.53, 6 Kathryn Burgess CAC 1.09.55, 7 Anne Waller MBH 1.11.18, 8 Donna Raggett CAC 1.13.57, 9 Revis Crowle ECH 1.15.16, 10 Megan Davis NRR 1.15.21. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Heidi Tregenza, 2 Emma Paull, 3 Amy Sole. 35-39: 1 Kirsty Medlock HR 1.16.40, 2 Natalie Drayson CAC 1.19.12, 3 Nikki Davies NRR 1.22.04. 40-44: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Charlotte Bennett HR 1.16.11, 3 Emma Mossop FRR 1.17.18. 45-49: 1 Zelah Morall, 2 Emma Stepto, 3 Anne Waller. 50-54: 1 Jayne Angilley CAC 1.16.10, 2 Anne Maskell U 1.16.57, 3 Sharon Daw ECH 1.18.18. 55-59: 1 Revis Crowle, 2 Pam Solomon BRR 1.22.52, 3 Jeanette Duncan NRR 1.27.25. 60-64: 1 Diane Warren HR 1.30.05, 2 Jackie Cope FRR 1.31.31, 3 Joyce James MBH 1.44.32. 65-69: 1 Sandy Jamieson CR 1.40.11, 2 Margaret Wade CR 1.44.26, 3 Jackie Jenkin CAC 1.45.34. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 25 points, 2 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 130 points, 3 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 137 points, 4 Mounts Bay Harriers 179 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 272 points, 6 Looe Pioneers 297 points, 7 Carn Runners 341 points, 8 Falmouth Road Runners 368 points, 9 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 375 points, 10 St Austell Running Club 500 points.