MILE High club member Tony Brewer just missed out on a podium place at the Cubert Five Mile Road Race, writes Alan Rowling.

He was part of a highly competitive men's event in round six of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series as a group of five drifted ahead of the chasing pack.

After a mile, Dan Rodgers from Launceston Road Runners had opened a gap over his four pursuers and even at this early stage his relentless pace soon took him further away.

As expected, the Rodgers road running masterclass produced a well deserved victory, powering home in the fast time of 25 minutes 20 seconds, all the more impressive in the less than favourable cool, blustery conditions.

The real interest focused on, who would join him on the podium, as the four challengers continually interchanged positions, with no one getting detached from the group.

With 400m to go, they were still locked in combat until St Austell's Dan Alsop produced a devastating burst, sprinting strongly along the finishing straight to clinch the runners-up spot from Newquay Road Runners' Mike Birchmore by just two seconds.

Cornwall Athletic Club's Colin Snook finished a further two seconds back, just clear of Brewer who was hanging onto his coattails.

In the women's race, an international flavour was added to the mix with England team-mates Emma Stepto, of Cornwall AC, and Newquay's Elsey Davis battling for the top spot.

Eventually Stepto opened up a gap which Davis could not bridge and set up her fifth victory in Cubert over the last six years.

Cornwall AC's Tom Slattery led the way in the Under 20s category, with the runner from Helston winning by seven seconds.

Success was also had by Falmouth Road Runners duo Jackie Cope and Kathryn Dormer who collected runners-up medals in the 60-64 and 65-69 age group races.

Second places were also achieved by Mile High's Kathryn Martin in the 50-54 section and Cornwall AC's Paul Whear, who lives in Helston, in the men's 45-49 category on his return from injury.

RESULTS

KEY FOR CLUBS

BR Bude Rats, 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, NRR Newquay Road Runners, STA St Austell Running Club, SWRR South West Road Runners, TRC Truro Running Club, TT Tamar Trotters, U Unattached.

MEN: 1 Dan Rodgers LRR 25.20, 2 Dan Alsop STA 25.45, 3 Mike Birchmore NRR 25.47, 4 Colin Snook CAC 25.49, 5 Tony Brewer MBH 25.53, 6 Jacob Landers TT 26.45, 7 Ken Walker NRR 27.08, 8 Jordan Morant MH 27.16, 9 Matt Walker U 27.41, 10 Tony Wright NRR 27.43. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Tom Slattery CAC 28.46, 2 Josh Carnell ECH 28.53, 3 Dominic Bateman BRR 28.54. Under 35: 1 Dan Rodgers, 2 Mike Birchmore, 3 Tony Brewer. 35-39: 1 Dan Alsop, 2 Colin Snook, 3 Jonas Gummesson NRR 27.50. 40-44: 1 Ken Walker, 2 Jonny Colaco NRR 28.14, 3 Simon Knowles HR 29.10. 45-49: 1 TonyWright, 2 Paul Whear CAC 27.46, 3 Adrian Ball CAC 27.57. 50-54: 1 Steve Wherry CAC 28.27, 2 Mark Dorrell CR 31.06, 3 Andrew Hickson MBH 31.13. 55-59: 1 Laurie Lee STA 30.46, 2 Martin Davis NRR 31.05, 3 Barrie Cardew CR 31.14. 60-64: 1 Malcolm Roberts STA 32.16, 2 Peter Chapman CR 35.31, 3 Stephen Hutchinson BR 35.52. 65-69: 1 Tom Polglase CR 32.35, 2 Brian Wiles LRR 33.39, 3 Paul Wright NRR 34.08. 70-74: 1 Stewart Townend HR 37.47, 2 Clive Hibbert MBH 39.22, 3 Richard Jenkin U 43.11. 75+: 1 Tony Berry TRC 44.13, 2 Norris Kington CAC 45.22. Teams: 1 Newquay Road Runners 68 points, 2 Cornwall AC 120 points, 3 Hayle Runners 172 points, 4 Mile High 173 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 266 points, 6 Mounts Bay Harriers 287 points.

LADIES: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 27.52, 2 Elsey Davis NRR 28.33, 3 Emma Schuck HR 29.35, 4 Donna Raggett CAC 31.17, 5 Jo Erith U 31.32, 6 Wendy Chapman TRC 31.46, 7 Alexandra Cutts SWRR 32.10, 8 Kathryn Burgess CAC 32.23, 9 Lucy Thompson TRC 32.26, 10 Jo Herd NRR 32.36. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Sam Edwards NRR 34.32, 2 Shannon Beckerleg NRR 35.24, 3 Olivia Mannall U 36.06. Under 35: 1 Elsey Davis, 2 Emma Schuck, 3 Jessica Buscombe STA 32.40. 35-39: 1 Jo Erith, 2 Wendy Chapman, 3 Alexandra Cutts. 40-44: 1 Donna Raggett, 2 Lucy Thompson, 3 Charlotte Bennett HR 32.49. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Emma Murray STA 33.28, 3 Debbie Webb HR 33.52. 50-54: 1 Jenny Nash ECH 33.21, 2 Debbie Nugent CR 35.43, 3 Katherine Martin MH 35.57. 55-59: 1 Carol Penberthy CR 39.32, 2 Julie Johns TRC 42.56, 3 Jo Kipling CR 43.08. 60-64: 1 Diane Warren HR 40.28, 2 Jackie Cope FRR 40.52, 3 Carol Pollard ECH 43.42. 65-69: 1 Jackie Jenkin CAC 43.11, 2 Kathryn Dormer FRR 47.54, 3 Carole Drew CR 51.44. 70+: 1 Timothea Cardell HR 45.52, 2 Lisa Wright NRR 49.38, 3 Val Hawken NRR 56.53. Teams: 1 Newquay Road Runners 97 points, 2 Cornwall AC 104 points, 3 Hayle Runners 117 points, 4 Truro Running Club 175 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 178 points, 6 Carn Runners 248 points.