A huge field gathered for the opening race of the 2017 Cornwall Grand Prix Road Race Serie - the Storm Force 10 miles in Camborne on Sunday.

There were stunning individual victories for the second successive year from Peter Le Grice (Mounts Bay Harriers) and Emma Stepto (Cornwall AC) and a battle royal for the honours in the Men’s team competition.

Le Grice stormed off from the start and by Carnell Green, just after one mile, he was already 200 metres ahead of Tony Brewer (Mile High), who in turn was well clear of a quality chasing pack.

By half way the Mounts Bay Harrier had an even bigger lead but Brewer was being chased down by Colin Snook (Cornwall AC), with the Cornwall AC pair Jordan Clay and Justin Thomas completing the top five.

The second half of the race produced few changes, with Le Grice crossing the line in 52.16 beating his own course record set in 2016 by twenty seven seconds.

Snook, on his way to setting a new 10 mile personal best, was closing on Brewer but the Mile High runner held on to second place, with Clay (4th) and Thomas (5th).

After the race Le Grice said: “I have to be pleased with today’s result, taking advantage of the calm conditions. I’m off to Kenya soon for a month, training at altitude and will be based in Itan, so I am looking forward to learning a lot and hopefully showing further improvement on my return.”

The Men’s team competition could not have been closer, with the Penryn based club, Mile High and the defending team champions Cornwall AC both scoring 87 points.

The winner was then decided by the position of each club’s sixth scoring runner, giving the verdict to Mile High, with their last scorer 37th and Cornwall AC’s last scorer 38th. Hayle Runners were some way adrift scoring 130 points but comfortably ahead of fourth placed Newquay Road Runners (218 points). Falmouth Road Runners continue to build on the improvement shown in 2016, finishing in fifth place, led home by Tom Carthey (12th) and Jacob Dobson (13th).

Cornwall AC’s Ladies team captain Emma Stepto certainly enjoys the Storm Force course, winning for the ninth successive year, clocking 60.47, a time which she was very pleased with, “After recovering from my stress fracture and starting to run again in September” says Stepto, “I really enjoyed today’s race. I felt more comfortable in a race for the first time since late 2014, running injury free and in a comfortable and balanced way.”

Team mate Zelah Morrall finished second in a new personal best time (62.02) with the Hayle team led home by Emma Paull in third position. Cornwall AC (34 points) were convincing winners of the team competition, not only with their six scoring runners in the top eleven places but with every member of the team running below the seven minutes per mile pace for the 10 mile distance. Runners up Hayle Runners (122 points) continue in 2017 in the position they usually filled in 2016, with Cornwall AC’s ‘B’ team packing well in third place.

Falmouth Road Runners were seventh, with Emma Mossop leading the team home and also collecting an age category prize, finishing third in the 40-44 section.

There were plenty more age group prizes for the local runners, most notably a Mile High clean sweep of the prizes in the Men’s 35-39 category, won by Andrew Martin, with Aaron Benney second and Richard Pascoe third.

Cornwall AC’s Paul Whear (Helston) was well clear of the opposition in his 45-49 age group and in the ladies' categories, two Falmouth Road Runners Jackie Cope (60-64) and Terry Marshall (65-69) finished second and third respectively.

KEY FOR CLUBS

BRR Bodmin Road Runners, CAC Cornwall AC, CR Carn Runners, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, FRR Falmouth Road Runners, HR Hayle Runners, LP Looe Pioneers, 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, TT Tamar Trotters.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Peter LeGrice MBH 52.16, 2 Tony Brewer MH 54.10, 3 Colin Snook CAC 54.15, 4 Jordan Clay CAC 55.05, 5 Justin Thomas CAC 55.15, 6 Jordan Morant HR 55.27, 7 Andrew Martin MH 55.48, 8 Daniel Costello HR 55.52, 9 Aaron Benney MH 56.22, 10 Dave Bartlett NRR 56.59. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Peter Le Grice, 2 Tony Brewer, 3 Jordan Clay. 35-39: 1 Andrew Martin, 2 Aaron Benney, 3 Richard Pascoe MH 59.02. 40-44: 1 Colin Snook, 2 Justin Thomas, 3 Simon Williams STA 1.00.16. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear CAC 57.04, 2 David Becken Krager PH 59.47, 3 Scott Abraham HR 1.00.09. 50-54: 1 Tony Wright NRR 58.54, 2 Steve Wherry CAC 1.00.50, 3 Glynn Davis CR 1.02.34. 55-59: 1 Steve Baker TT 1.06.20, 2 David Philp ECH 1.06.21, 3 Mark Trebilcock CAC 1.08.35. 60-64: 1 Simon Webber ECH 1.09.48, 2 Malcolm Roberts STA 1.11.43, 3 Martin Morgan BRR 1.13.16. 65-69: 1 Pat Lockett NRR 1.17.13, 2 Phillip Box LRR 1.19.10, 3 John Gossan LP 1.19.29. 70-74 1 Brian Wiles LRR 1.13.37, 2 Stewart Townend HR 1.20.54, 3 John Lillis NRR 1.23.54. 75+: 1 Norris Kington CAC 1.44.05. 80+: 1 Tony Berry TRC 1.38.35. Teams: 1 Mile High 87 points, 2 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 87 points, 3 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 130 points, 4 Newquay Road Runners 218 points, 5 Falmouth Road Runners 230 points, 6 St Austell Running Club 238 points, 7 Mounts Bay Harriers 312 points, 8 Truro Running Club 335 points, 9 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 345 points, 10 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 414 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 1.00.47, 2 Zelah Morrall CAC 1.02.02, 3 Emma Paull HR 1.03.37, 4 Rebecca Ezra TT 1.04.00, 5 Heidi Tregenza CAC 1.04.17, 6 Kathryn Burgess CAC 1.07.02, 7 Ami Yetton PH 1.07.39, 8 Jessica Buscombe STA 1.07.59, 9 Amy Sole CAC 1.08.24, 10 Isobel Wykes TRC 1.08.57. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Emma Paull, 2 Rebecca Ezra, 3 Heidi Tregenza. 35-39: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Ami Yetton, 3 Isobel Wykes. 40-44: 1 Charlotte Bennett HR 1.11.37, 2 Faye Savage HR 1.12.56, 3 Emma Mossop FRR 1.13.22. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Zelah Morrall, 3 Anne Waller MBH 1.10.50. 50-54: 1 Revis Crowle ECH 1.11.01, 2 Sharon Daw ECH 1.14.55, 3 Jill Anderson PH 1.15.11. 55-59: 1 Pam Solomon BRR 1.16.05, 2 Lisa Player NRR 1.23.20, 3 Jane Moore STA 1.27.58. 60-64: 1 Diane Warren HR 1.23.43, 2 Jackie Cope FRR 1.25.19, 3 Sue Taylor MBH 1.26.00. 65-69: 1 Jackie Jenkin CAC 1.37.36, 2 Margaret Wade CR 1.38.28, 3 Terry Marshall FRR 1.47.27. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 34 points, 2 Hayle Runners 122 points, 3 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 165 points, 4 Truro Running Club 223 points, 5 Mounts Bay Harriers 279 points, 6 Newquay Road Runners 297 points, 7 Falmouth Road Runners 349 points, 8 Bodmin Road Runners 379 points, 9 Cornwall AC ‘C’ 385 points, 10 Looe Pioneers 395 points.