Road running in Cornwall reached new heights in Sunday’s Newquay 10K road race, attracting an all time record for a Grand Prix race of 768 finishers, confirming the decision by the Newquay club to move from it’s October date to February.

Round 2 of the Grand Prix Series, which was sponsored by Flounders Fish and Chips, attracted quality fields in both the men’s and ladies' races, providing an ideal platform for the Cornwall AC pair, Godolphin School’s Colin Snook and Emma Stepto, to produce notable victories.

In a very competitive men’s race, a tight knit group of five, the Cornwall AC runners Colin Snook, Justin Thomas and Noel Kindon, together with the Mile High men, Tony Brewer and Aaron Benney, were setting the pace at the two-mile mark, with the winner likely to come from this group. By four miles Kindon had dropped off the pace leaving the remaining four to do battle to the finish.

The final positions were still in doubt as this quartet approached the deceptively gentle climb back to the Newquay Sports Centre, when Snook, from Godolphin near Helston, made his make or break decision.

He said: “I decided to go for broke and launched my final sprint from some way out, hoping the tactic would work. One by one the group reduced from four to three and then it was just me and Tony. Fortunately I managed a stronger finish effort to the line and won by two seconds.”

The consistent Thomas got the better of Benney to claim third place, with Kindon fifth.

Stepto won her first Newquay 10K since 2010 and showed her comeback to be well on track in 2017.

The one-two in the ladies' race once again proved to be fairly predictable, with Zelah Morall (Cornwall AC) again finishing second and club mate Heidi Tregenza making it a clean sweep of the podium positions, with a personal best on this course by over two minutes. Hayle’s Emma Paull, finished fourth twenty seconds behind Tregenza.

The Newquay race also marked the first event in the Under 20 Grand Prix year, with twelfth finisher Falmouth’s Tom Slattery (Cornwall AC) beating Penryn College student Floyd Ratcliffe (Hayle Runners) to the top prize by two places and forty seconds.

Both boys certainly had a busy weekend, competing for Cornwall Schools the day before in the South West Schools Cross Country Championships at Truro School. Alex Coley (East Cornwall Harriers) was a distant third in ninety seventh overall position.

The host club, Newquay Road Runners, led the way in the Ladies Under 20 age group, won by Sophie Talling, ahead of Newquay team mate Leigh Spencer, with Launceston Road Runner Jessica Goldberg third.

After losing the first Grand Prix race of the year, the Storm Force 10, on count back to the Penryn-based club Mile High, the tables were turned at Newquay, with Cornwall AC (42 points) producing a dominant performance, finishing their six scoring runners in the top twelve places. Mile High (86 points) packed well to secure the runner’s up spot, ahead of Hayle Runners (109 points), with Cornwall AC’s ‘B’ team (195 points) in fourth place. Falmouth Road Runners continue make their presence felt in the Grand Prix, finishing sixth.

A full strength Cornwall AC Ladies team (25 points) were even more dominant than their male counterparts, with their six scoring runners in the top eight finishers, with Hayle Runners (119 points) sandwiched between Cornwall AC’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams and just seven points ahead of the club’s ‘B’ team squad. The Falmouth Ladies, not to be outdone by their male counterparts, did not let their side down, also finishing in sixth position.

The five prizes local prize winners in the male Veteran categories all in finished in the top eleven places overall. Benny won the 35-39 age group, with Mile High’s Andrew Martin (eighth overall) third. Race winner Snook won the 40-44 section, with Falmouth’s Paul Smith (Cornwall AC), tenth overall and third in this age group and Helston’s Paul Whear (Cornwall AC), who was eleventh overall, took the honours in the 45-49 category.

On the Ladies side Falmouth Road Runner Jackie Cope finished second in the 60-64 age group in the second successive Grand Prix race, with teammate Christine White winning the 70-74 section

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, STA St Austell Running Club, TRC Truro Running Club, TT Tamar Trotters.

RESULTS

Men: 1 Colin Snook CAC 33.29, 2 Tony Brewer MH 33.31, 3 Justin Thomas CAC 33.38, 4 Aaron Benney MH 33.41, 5 Noel Kindon CAC 33.52, 6 Neil Eddy MBH 34.04, 7 Jordan Morant HR 34.13, 8 Andrew Martin MH 34.20, 9 Daniel Costello HR 34.23, 10 Paul Smith CAC 34.32. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Tom Slattery CAC 35.00, 2 Floyd Ratcliffe HR 35.40, 3 Alex Coley ECH 42.06. 35-39: 1 Aaron Benney, 2 Noel Kindon, 3 Andrew Martin. 40-44: 1 Colin Snook, 2 Justin Thomas, 3 Paul Smith. 45-49: 1 Paul Whear CAC 34.41, 2 Paul Sawford CR 36.58, 3 Justin Day CAC 37.02. 50-54: 1 Steve Wherry HR 36.57, 2 Glynn Davis CR 37.42, 3 Rich Savage HR 37.50. 55-59: 1 David Philp ECH 40.16, 2 Steve Baker TT 40.48, 3 Laurie Lee STA 41.01. 60-64: 1 Simon Webber ECH 42.43, 2 Iain Walker STA 43.44, 3 Giles Newcombe HR 44.23. 65-69: 1 Geoff Letchford MBH 44.07, 2 Pat Lockett NRR 46.25, 3 John Gossan LP 48.17. 70-74: 1 Brian Wiles LRR 44.14, 2 Stewart Townend HR 49.46, 3 John Lillis NRR 50.21. 75-79: 1 Norris Kington CAC 60.53, 80+: 1 Tony Berry TRC 57.37. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 42 points, 2 Mile High 86 points, 3 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 109 points, 4 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 195 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 210 points, 6 Falmouth Road Runners 227 points, 7 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 279 points, 8 Mounts Bay Harriers 294 points, 9 Newquay Road Runers 299 points, 10 Carn Runners 327 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stepto CAC 37.03, 2 Zelah Morrall CAC 37.58, 3 Heidi Tregenza CAC 38.28, 4 Emma Paull HR 38.48, 5 Amy Sole CAC 39.56, 6 Donna Raggett CAC 40.29, 7 Jo Herd NRR 40.46, 8 Kathryn Burgess CAC 41.08, 9 Jessica Buscombe STA 41.21, 10 Naomi Tier CAC 42.04. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Sophie Talling NRR 46.15, 2 Leigh Spencer NRR 49.01, 3 Jessica Goldberg LRR 49.59. 35-39: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Louise Gore NRR 45.10, 3 Kirsty Medlock HR 45.26. 40-44: 1 Jo Herd, 2 Charlotte Bennett HR 43.19, 3 Faye Savage HR 45.01. 45-49: 1 Emma Stepto, 2 Zelah Morrall, 3 Donna Raggett. 50-54: 1 Sharon Daw ECH 45.07, 2 Debbie Nugent CAC 45.44, 3 Karen McClay MBH 46.16. 55-59: 1 Revis Crowle ECH 43.17, 2 Pam Solomon BRR 46.29, 3 Lisa Player NRR 49.44. 60-64: 1 Diane Warren HR 51.45, 2 Jackie Cope FRR 53.07, 3 Sue Taylor MBH 53.11. 65-69: 1 Jackie Jenkin CAC 59.00, 2 Margaret Wade CR 61.12, 3 Lynn Harvey NRR 62.31. 70-74: 1 Christine White FRR 93.55. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 25 points, 2 Hayle Runners ‘A’ 119 points, 3 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 126 points, 4 Newquay Road Runners ‘A’ 168 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 280 points, 6 Falmouth Road Runners 305 points, 7 Mounts Bay Harriers 306 points, 8 Truro Running Club 351 points, 9 Newquay Road Runners ‘B’ 361 points, 10 Hayle Runners ‘B’ 401 points.