Two of the hottest pre race favourites, Peter Le Grice (Mounts Bay Harriers) and Emma Stepto (Cornwall AC) once again proved untouchable in Sunday’s 34th Parkdean Indian Queens Half Marathon, round nine of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing, as two of the County’s best road runners romped to easy victories in their respective races.

Le Grice is in a class of his own in Cornwall these days, moving ahead of any challengers from the gun and by the half mile point was already fifty metres in front of the Cornwall AC pair Falmouth’s Paul Smith and Justin Thomas, with another Cornwall AC runner Paul Whear (Helston) and Jordan Morant (Hayle Runners) in close pursuit.

As the miles passed, the Mounts Bay runner moved further and further ahead, eventually crossing the line in 1 hour 13 minutes 21 seconds to win by a staggering 2 minutes 14 seconds.

Smith and Thomas were running shoulder to shoulder with neither prepared to give an inch, being helped on their way by the Indian Queens Band, who traditionally provide a musical accompaniment to the race, when the runners approach the five mile point.

It was not until half way before a rejuvenated Smith, producing perhaps his best performance on the road to date, eased ahead of his more fancied team mate, running a strong, consistent second half of the race to clinch the runners up prize. Thomas finished third, with Morrant never able to close a race long agonisingly small gap to Whear, as the Cornwall AC man came home fourth, nineteen seconds in front of fifth placed Morant.

The Falmouth and Mile High clubs have been quiet on the Grand Prix front recently, with Falmouth Road Runners fielding only fourteen runner s at Indian Queens and Mile High managing just two men.

James Barnet (Falmouth Road Runners) was the top local man after the two Cornwall AC’s Pauls, finishing twenty second, with the Mile High pair of Ditty and Howell in thirty second and thirty fifth places respectively.

In the age categories, not surprisingly, Smith won the 40-44 section and Whear the 45-49 age group, with the Carn runner Peter Drew (Helston) the only other prize winner, finishing third in the 65-69 category.

As Stepto gets fitter fewer and fewer men finish ahead of her and last Sunday only ten achieved that feat.

The Cornwall AC ladies' team captain, like most of the runners, found the race tough, saying: “After about four miles the sun came out and we had little shade along the gravel paths of Goss Moor.

Then on the way back, we were running into a slight headwind. This year I think most people were slower on this course than usual.”

Stepto’s closest rival, who finished 2 minutes 36 second adrift of the marathon international, was Julia Davis (Newquay Road Runners), elder sister of another international Elsey , who travelled from London to visit her family in Newquay. Cornwall AC’s Zelah Morrall finished third, with Rebecca Ezra (Tamar Trotters) fourth, followed by Kathryn Burgess (Cornwall AC), who enjoyed her best race for a while, passing sixth finisher Emma Paull (Hayle Runners) in the closing stages.

After nine of the fourteen races in the Grand Prix programme completed, the outcome of a few team and individual awards for 2016 begin to be decided. This was the case in the Men’s team competition, with Cornwall AC (66 points) winning their eighth Grand Prix race at Indian Queens, clinching their fifteenth successive Grand Prix team title with five races still remaining.

Hayle Runners (105 points) finished second for the fifth time this year and Newquay Road Runners (242 points) were third, their fourth podium placing of 2016.

Cornwall AC Ladies (71 points) made it a club double, also beating Hayle Runners (139 points) into second place, with Carn Runners (191 points) holding off the Cornwall AC ‘B’ team by eleven points to clinch third position.

KEY FOR CLUBS

CAC Cornwall AC, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, HR Hayle Runners, IJAC Ipswich Jaffo AC, LRR Launceston Road Runners, MBH Mounts Bay Harriers, NHRR North Herts Road Runners, NRR Newquay Road Runners, SAT St Albans Striders, SCS Steel City Striders, SS Shelton Striders, STA St Austell Running Club, TRC Truro Running Club, TT Tamer Trotters, U Unattached.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Peter Le Grice MBH 1.13.21, 2 Paul Smith CAC 1.15.35, 3 Justin Thomas CAC 1.15.59, 4 Paul Whear CAC 1.16.50, 5 Jordan Morant HR 1.17.09, 6 Darren Orchard U 1.18.17, 7 Sam Pearch SS 1.18.33, 8 Tim Robinson LRR 1.19.01, 9 Alex Daniels NRR 1.20.21, 10 Marc Smerdon ECH 1.20.38. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Peter Le Grice, 2 Jordan Morant, 3 Tim Robinson. 35-39: 1 Sam Pearch, 2 Paul Sole CAC 1.23.25, 3 Robert Watts HR 1.23.55. 40-44: 1 Paul Smith, 2 Justin Thomas, 3 Darren Orchard. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear, 2 Simon Bennett SCS 1.24.13, 3 Craig Knuckey U 1.32.09. 50-54: 1 Rich Savage HR 1.23.17, 2 Paul Gregg TT 1.24.36, 3 Mark Dorrell CR 1.25.58. 55-59: 1 Barrie Cardew CR 1.30.15, 2 Laurie Lee STA 1.33.03, 3 Michael Wilson TRC 1.33.45. 60-64: 1 Malcolm Roberts STA 1.38.39, 2 Chris Ramsey TRC 1.46.36, 3 Peter Chapman CR 1.47.16. 65-69: 1 Brian Wiles LRR 1.37.57, 2 Pat Lockett NRR 1.43.33, 3 Peter Drew CR 1.56.12. 70-74: 1 Pete Sargent NRR 1.49.21, 2 Stewart Townend HR 1.51.12, 3 John Lillis NRR 1.57.33. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 66 points, 2 Hayle Runners 105 points, 3 Newquay Road Runners 242 points, 4 Carn Runners 302 points, 5 Tamar Trotters 317 points, 6 Truro Running Club 341 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 1.20.53, 2 Julia Davis NRR 1.23.29, 3 Zelah Morrall CAC 1.25.36, 4 Rebecca Ezra TT 1.28.02, 5 Kathryn Burgess CAC 1.28.30, 6 Emma Paull HR 1.28.43, 7 Claire Kremer SAT 1.31.06, 8 Jeanette Johnson LRR 1.33.25, 9 Jessica Buscombe STA 1.33.48, 10 Anne Waller MBH 1.35.42. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Julia Davis, 2 Rebecca Ezra, 3 Emma Paull. 35-39: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Leanne Smith STA 1.50.03, 3 Jennifer Wright IJAC 1.50.05. 40-44: 1 Claire Kremer, 2 Charlotte Bennett HR 1.38.13, 3 Faye Savage HR 1.40.25. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Zelah Morrall, 3 Anne Waller. 50-54: 1 Jeanette Johnson, 2 Diane Roy ECH 1.36.24, 3 Emma Murray STA 1.36.51. 55-59: 1 Helen Ralph TT 2.01.35, 2 Linda Aird NHRR 2.04.51, 3 Carolyn Lockett U 2.06.01. 60-64: 1 Sue Taylor MBH 1.54.56, 2 Diane Warren HR 2.08.44, 3 Sandy Jamieson CR 2.11.48. 65-69: 1 Liz Easterbrook MBH 2.43.47, 2 Ann Foster TT 2.45.23. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 71 points, 2 Hayle Runners 139 points, 3 Carn Runners 191 points, 4 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 202 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 259 points, 6 Mounts Bay Harriers 351 points.