The 30th Falmouth Mob Match once again marked the end of another successful road running year in Cornwall, with 415 runners lining up on the Falmouth sea front on Sunday morning ready to tackle five challenging miles, with its spectacular views around Pendennis Point, along the sea front, passing Gyllyngvase Beach and into Swanpool.

It was evident from the early stages, as the runners negotiated the steep hill past the docks, that the battle for individual honours in the men’s race would be between Godolphin School’s Colin Snook (Cornwall AC) and Tony Brewer (Mile High).

These two ran shoulder to shoulder for the first three miles around Castle Drive and along the sea front, before Snook made his move on the steep descent into Swanpool, in exactly the same spot as the previous year when they were racing for third place.

Once again the move proved well timed as the England Masters International slowly built a winning lead up the steep hill out of Swanpool and back along the sea front to the finish outside The Falmouth Hotel, winning by 15 seconds.

The final podium place was also in doubt until the closing stages, with Aaron Benney (Mile High) and the Cornwall AC pair Falmouth’s Paul Smith and Justin Thomas all contesting third position.

Once again the Swanpool hill proved decisive, this time as the trio ascended, with Benney choosing his moment to forge ahead of Smith, with Thomas tucked in behind.

Running hard into the bitterly cold headwind along the sea front, Benney was in no mood to be caught, clinching third spot by four seconds, with Thomas (4th) mounting a late sprint to overtake Smith (5th) in the last one hundred metres.

The strong local representation in the race, with six runners in the top eight, was completed by the third Mile High man, Andrew Martin (7th), who finished one place and three seconds ahead of the third Cornwall AC runner, Paul Whear (8th).

Pre race favourite Zelah Morrall (Cornwall AC), reasonably fresh from her win in the Cornish Marathon seven days previously, was a comfortable winner of the Ladies race but the runner’s up prize proved to be a more interesting tussle between Heidi Tregenza (Cornwall AC) and Emma Paull (Hayle Runners).

Tregenza, now regaining much of her old form since returning to Cornwall a few months ago, had moved into second place by the half way mark but had no time to relax, working hard mid race to stay ahead of Hayle’s leading lady, before pulling further away in the final mile, crossing the line twenty seconds ahead of Paull.

17 year old Helston student Katie Hughes (Cornwall AC) was the first local finisher in the Ladies race in ninth place, helping the club’s A team to the team title.

Victory for Falmouth Road Runners, the Division 2 Ladies team champions, was based on a trio of high-placed Falmouth finishers, Tammy Dalton (12th), Emma Mossop (13th) and Georgina Hunt (16th).

The Mob Match is very much about team competition, with all the Cornish clubs encouraged to turn out as many runners as possible, hence the name ‘Mob’. Clubs compete in either Division 1,2 or 3, depending on the number of club members they have.

Cornwall AC continued to dominate the team prizes winning the Division 1 Men’s trophy for the 15th consecutive year, with their twelve scoring runners finishing in the top twenty three places. Once again Hayle Runners provided the closest opposition, almost three hundred points behind the winners, with Newquay Road Runners in third place, repeating their performance of last year.

Cornwall AC’s Ladies (183 points) had things very much their own way, securing a ninth consecutive title, with Hayle Runners (487 points) mirroring the performance of their Men’s team in the runner’s up spot. Newquay Road Runners (599 points) ensured a repeat performance of the 2015 team positions, again claiming the third place prizes

In the Division 2 competition there was a deserved double for the race hosts Falmouth Road Runners who scooped the team prizes in both the Men’s and Ladies races.

In the Men’s event East Cornwall Harriers moved up one position compared to last year, filling the runner’s up spot, with Carn Runners moving down one position compared to last year in third. In the ladies' race Truro Running Club were the closest challengers to Falmouth Road Runners, finishing in front of Carn Runners who were again third.

The Penryn based Mile High club retained the Division 3 trophy for mixed teams, winning this section comfortably with their all male team.

Race Director Jan Watson from the host club, Falmouth Road Runners, expressed her thanks for the generous sponsorship from The Falmouth Hotel, At Your Pace, Saucony, Specsavers, Blue Haze and Hine Downing Solicitors, all contributing towards a successful event enjoyed by all the runners.

KEY FOR CLUBS

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, PH Plymouth Harriers, STA St Austell Running Club, TRC Truro Running Club.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Colin Snook CAC 26.33, 2Tony Brewer MH 26.48, 3 Aaron Benney MH 27.28, 4 Justin Thomas CAC 27.32, 5 Paul Smith CAC 27.35, 6 Tony Wright NRR 27.44, 7 Andrew Martin MH 27.53, 8 Paul Whear CAC 27.56, 9 Neil Eddy MBH 28.03, 10 Jordan Morant HR 28.06, 11 Noel Kindon CAC 28.10, 12 Ken Walker NRR 28.13, 13 Richard Dalton FRR 28.14, 14 Thomas Humphrey HR 28.16, 15 Jacob Dobson FRR 28.16, 16 Tom Slattery CAC 28.21, 17 Floyd Ratcliffe HR 28.26, 18 Jordan Clay CAC 28.28, 19 Sam Goodchild CAC 28.51, 20 Tom Luton NRR 28.51. Teams: Division 1: Cornwall AC ‘A’ 126 points, 2 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 415 points, 3 Newquay Road Runners ‘A’ 490 points, 4 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 512 points, 5 Cornwall AC ‘C’ 1031 points, 6 Mounts Bay Harriers 1209 points, 7 St Austell Running Club 1218 points, 8 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 1498 points, 9 Newquay Road Runners ‘B’ 1503 points. Division 2: 1 Falmouth Road Runners 294 points, 2 East Cornwall Harriers ‘A’ 488 points, 3 Carn Runners ‘A’ 569 points, 4 Truro Running Club (638 points), 5 Launceston Road Runners (924 points), 6 East Cornwall Harriers ‘B’ 943 points, 7 Carn Runners ‘B’ 1181 points, 8 East Cornwall Harriers ‘C’ 1420 points. Division 3 Mixed: 1 Mile High 191 points, 2 Looe Pioneers 1520 points.

Ladies: 1 Zelah Morrell CAC 31.04, 2 Heidi Tregenza CAC 31.19, 3 Emma Paull HR 31.39, 4 Donna Raggett CAC 33.04, 5 Amy Sole CAC 33.12, 6 Jessica Buscombe STA 33.30, 7 Jeanette Johnson LRR 33.43, 8 Megan Davis NRR 34.03, 9 Katie Hughes CAC 34.04, 10 Charlotte Bennett HR 35.03, 11 Lucy Williams TRC 35.22, 12 Tammy Dalton FRR 35.24, 13 Emma Mossop FRR 35.24, 14 Lydia Davis NRR 35.41, 15 Kelly Williams MBH 36.03, 16 Georgina Hunt FRR 36.07, 17 Stacey Lowe CR 36.28, 18 Alicia Regan PH 36.50, 19 Julia Pearce CAC 36.52, 20 Ann Quarmby ECH 37.11. Teams: Division 1: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 183 points, 2 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 497 points, 3 Truro Running Club 514 points, 4 Newquay Road Runners 599 points, 5 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 959 points, 6 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 971 points, 7 St Austell Running Club 1036 points, 8 Mounts Bay Harriers 1040 points, 9 Hayle Runners ‘C’ 1517 points. Division 2: 1 Falmouth Road Runners 321 points, 2 Truro Running Club (333 points), 3 Carn Runners ‘A’ 405 points, 4 East Cornwall Harriers 431 points, 5 Launceston Road Runners 461 points, 6 Carn Runners ‘B’ 908 points, 7 Carn Runners ‘C’ 1275 points.