A course record from Emma Stepto (Cornwall Athletic Club) and a near miss from Dan Alsop (St Austell Running Club) were the highlights in last Sunday’s sixth Treggy 7-mile road race, round twelve of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing.

The leading men were content to bide their time over the opening miles, knowing that before the halfway point, they would have to negotiate the one-mile long killer hill leading up to the village of Tregadillett. On the lower slopes of this tough climb Alsop made his move easing ahead of one of the few visiting runners, Alex Milne (Enfield and Harringey Athletic Club), with the two Cornwall Athletic Club runners, James Waldie and Colin Snook in hot pursuit.

This tactic certainly paid off as the St Austell runner produced one of his biggest winning margins of the 2011 Grand Prix year, over one minute ahead of Milne and just 14 seconds outside the course record. Snook overtook nineteen-year-old Waldie to clinch third spot, almost catching the Enfield athlete, who just managed to hold on to second place by three seconds.

Justin Thomas (6th), running well over a minute faster than last year, Adrian Ball (7th), Justin Day (13th) and Phil Bolt (19th), totalled the low score of fifty points, bringing Cornwall Athletic Club home comfortably ahead of St Austell Running Club (116 points), with East Cornwall Harriers (155 points) finishing third and in the top three in a Grand Prix race for the second time this year.

Emma’s seventh Grand Prix win of the year confirmed her as the 2011 Ladies Grand Prix champion, a title she has now won for the fourth successive year. Cornwall’s top lady road runner, who finished ninth overall, also had an eventful climb on the 'killer hill', when a car passed her and Steve Marks (Newquay Road Runners) and then not only proceeded to slow both runners down on a narrow section, but also belched diesel fumes at the runners, before both Emma and Steve managed to squeeze past and into the fresh air. Emma's Cornwall AC team mate Naomi Tier finished two minutes behind her team captain in second place but the real battle was developing well over three minutes behind Naomi, with Lizzie Irvine (Truro Running Club), Sarah Kenworthy (Hayle Runners) and Rachel Tresidder (Mount’s Bay Harriers) running side by side with one mile to go. Rachel was the first to drop off the pace but neither Lizzie or Sarah were prepared to give way as they entered the finish in the grounds of Launceston Castle neck and neck, with Lizzie getting the narrowest of verdicts on the line, as both ladies given the same time.

Both Cornwall Athletic Club and Hayle Runners fielded weakened Ladies teams but the pecking order remained the same with Cornwall equalling the achievement of their men, achieving an eleventh Grand Prix win of the year. Hayle finished second for the seventh time in 2011, with the Ladies of East Cornwall Harriers in third, which also moved the East Cornwall club into a clear third place in the overall Grand Prix standings, three points clear of Mount’s Bay Harriers.

Emily Cook once again led the challenge of the Ladies from Falmouth Road Runners, finishing 18th, as the club team came home in 7th position. Despite fine runs from Richard Dalton (10th), Tony Brewer (14th) and Paul Gwynne (27th), the local club's Men's team, missing a few of their stronger runners, could only equal the exploits of the Ladies, also finishing in 7th place.

In the age categories, the club's only prize winner was the ever present Terry Marshall, who finished second in the Veteran's 60-64 category, maintaining her excellent record in the Grand Prix standings this year, with four firsts and two seconds in her six races.

There was reason to celebrate for Richard Dalton and Issy Steele at the recently though.

Richard managed to finish seventh overall in the DAN 5K running series, which consisted of five separate 5K runs around the county.

He was first in the under 30 men’s section. Just to slightly put him in the shade Izzy Steele, who is only 15 years old, finished in first place for women’s DAN 5K series. Not just in her age group but the whole event.

A spokesman for Falmouth Road Runners, said: “This is a stunning achievement. She is a credit to the club and everybody is really proud of what she has done for the club and the town of Falmouth.”

Results - Men: 1 Dan Alsop STA 38.14, 2 Alex Milne E&H 39.20, 3 Colin Snook CAC 39.23, 4 James Waldie CAC 39.45, 5 Dan Rodgers LRR 39.56, 6 Justin Thomas CAC 40.43, 7 Adrian Ball CAC 41.15, 8 Richard Pascoe MH 41.57, 9 Steve Marks NRR 42.30, 10 Richard Dalton FRR 42.37. Age Categories: Under 40: 1 Dan Alsop, 2 Alex Milne, 3 Colin Snook. 40-44: 1 Adrian Ball, 2 Justin Day CAC 43.29, 3 Phil Bolt CAC 44.00. 45-49: 1 Rich Savage MBH 42.45, 2 Duncan Oakes STA 43.50, 3 Dave Rowe STA 43.57. 50-54: 1 Barrie Cardew CR 45.27, 2 Mark Andrews ECH 45.33, 3 Mark Wreford CR 47.35. 55-59: 1 Neville Witham CAC 46.13, 2 Malcolm Roberts STA 47.09, 3 Stephen Restall NRR 50.54. 60-64: 1 Tom Polglase CR 48.13, 2 Nicholas Pettit TT 49.29, 3 Doug Alsop STA 50.21. 65-69: 1 Stewart Townend HR 53.51, 2 Ron Shapland NRR 56.18, 3 Clive Hibbert MBH 56.45. 70-74: 1 Norris Kington CAC 1.00.20, 2 Nick Jeans TRC 1.03.15, 3 Alan Smith ECH 1.04.00. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 50 points, 2 St Austell RC 116 points, 3 East Cornwall Harriers 155 points. Team 50+: 1 St Austell RC 38 points, 2 Newquay Road Runners 56 points, 3 Carn Runners 57 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 42.04, 2 Naomi Tier CAC 44.10, 3 Lizzie Irvine TRC 47.48, 4 Sarah Kenworthy HR 47.48, 5 Rachel Tresidder MBH 47.53, 6 Rachel Baker CA 48.23, 7 Diane Roy ECH 49.39, 8 Nancy Hill MBH 49.55, 9 Debbie Harriso HR 50.18, 10 Lara King U 50.24. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Naomi Tier, 2 Lizzie Irvine, 3 Sarah Kenworthy. 35-39: 1 Rachel Tresidder, 2 Faye Toms HR 51.22, 3 Julia Pearce CAC 51.43. 40-44: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Nancy Hill, 3 Debbie Harrison. 45-49: 1 Diane Roy, 2 Sharon Daw ECH 51.05, 3 Caroline Chesterfield CAC 51.13. 50-54: 1 Tessa Mason ECH 58.27, 2 Carol Penberthy TL 1.01.46, 3 Susan Chapman HR 1.01.55. 55-59: 1 Amanda Erith ECH 1.00.15, 2 Carol Pollard ECH 1.01.17, 3 Sue Burges LRR 1.01.36. 60-64: 1 Jenny Mills LRR 52.23, 2 Terry Marshall FRR 1.05.57, 3 Judith Lew U 1.09.12. 65+: 1 Val Hawken NRR 1.22.31. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 32 points, 2 Hayle Runners 50 points, 3 East Cornwall Harriers 72 points. Team 50+: 1 East Cornwall Harriers 9 points, 2 Launceston Road Runners 14 points, 3 Hayle Runners 29 points.