Falmouth Road Runners hosted the traditional conclusion to Cornwall's road running year on Sunday, with the 25th Cornwall Mob Match.

A huge record field of 497 runners set off from Gyllyngvase, heading towards Swanpool, enjoying a dry day, with more than just a hint of winter sunshine, favourable weather conditions, which have been a feature of this race in recent years.

As the runners retraced their steps, after circumnavigating Swanpool and passing the two mile point at Gyllyngvase Beach, Dan Nash (East Cornwall Harriers) and John Scott (Newquay Road Runners) were contesting the lead ahead of the 2011 Men's Grand Prix champion Dan Alsop (St Austell Running Club), Chris Sabine (Tamar Trotters) and Noel Kindon (Cornwall AC), followed by a trio of Cornwall Athletic Club athletes, Dave Buzza, Matt Pullen and Callum Jones.

Along the seafront and heading towards the tough climb past the docks, Nash dropped Scott, who was then passed by Alsop. Nash, the Under 20 Grand Prix champion, setting his sights on a first Senior victory, pushed on around Castle Drive, never able to relax knowing that Alsop would be in hot pursuit. The young East Cornwall Harrier approached the seafront in the lead but the experience of Alsop proved to be the deciding factor, as he passed Nash in the last 400 metres and sprinted home, winning by eight seconds.

Scott held on for third, with Chris Sabine (Tamar Trotters) moving through in the second half of the race to snatch fourth position, ahead of the quartet of Cornwall Athletic Club runners led by the previous week's Cornish Marathon winner Noel Kindon in fifth place.

Miranda Heathcote (Newquay Road Runners) continues to impress in the Ladies competition, content to run alongside Cornwall Athletic Club's Naomi Tier fir the first half of the race, before moving clear and building a winning lead, crossing the line 27 seconds, ahead of Naomi. Fifteen-year-old Issy Steele (Falmouth Road Runners) once again showed what a talented young runner she is, pacing hereself sensibly and coping comfortably with the five mile distance, finishing in a fine third place.

The Mob Match is all about the team competition, with each club's 'mob of runners' competing in Division 1, 2 or 3, depending on the size of the club. In the top division the Sportsworld trophy for the winning Men's team went to Cornwall Athletic Club for the tenth successive year, with the Cornwall Grand Prix champion club finishing 428 points ahead of St Austell Running Club, with Newquay Road Runners in third place. In the top tier for Ladies, all of the leading clubs seemed to be under strength, with Cornwall AC's team making up for the absence of six key runners to win the team event for the fourth successive year, almost 200 points ahead of Newquay Road Runners, with Hayle Runners well behind the Mid Cornwall club in third place.

In Division 2 East Cornwall Harriers led the way winning both the Men's and Ladies trophies. In the Men's competition Carn Runners from Camborne claimed the runner's up prize ahead of third place Truro Running Club, with Truro getting their own back in the Ladies race by finishing in second place ahead of Carn. In Division 3 for small clubs, with mixed male and female teams, the Penryn based Mile High took the honours, ahead of Tri Logic, with the Police team beaten into third place.

With many of the Falmouth Road Runners busy organising the race, success for the host club centred on individual rather than team performances. Issy was supported by good runs from Emily Cook (12th) and Janine Kennedy (14th), with another local lady, Beth Popperwell (MH) finishing sixth. In the Men's race Tony Brewer (13th) once again set the standard for Falmouth, joined in the top fifty by Richard Dalton (40th) and Nick Hayden (44th) but the pace was being set by the Mile High men, with five top fifty performers, led by Richard Pascoe (9th) and followed by Ryan Moyle (21st), Andrew Martin (27th), Adam Bunclark (31st) and Nick Martin (43rd).

Results - Men: 1 Dan Alsop STA 26.41, 2 Dan Nash ECH 26.49, 3 John Scott NRR 26.59, 4 Chris Sabine TT 27.08, 5 Noel Kindon CAC 27.45, 6 Matt Pullen CAC 27.51, 7 Dave Buzza CAC 27.55, 8 Callum Jones CAC 28.03, 9 Richard Pascoe MH 28.23, 10 Phil Wilson CAC 28.28, 11 Mike Feigham EXH 28.41, 12 James Stevens ECH 28.58, 13 Tony Brewer FRR 29.02, 14 Ken Walker NRR 29.05, 15 Adrian Ball CAC 29.11. Teams: Division 1: Cornwall AC 663 points, 2 St Austell Running Club 1091 points, 3 Newquay Road Runners 1312 points, 4 Hayle Runners, 5 Cornwall AC 'B', 6 Tamar Trotters. Division 2: 1 East Cornwall Harriers, 2 Carn Runners, 3 Truro Running Club, 4 East Cornwall Harriers 'B'. Division 3 (Mixed): 1 Mile High, 2 Tri Logic, 3 Police, 4 Bodmin Women's Running Club.

Ladies: 1 Miranda Heathcote NRR 29.17, 2 Naomi Tier CAC 29.46, 3 Issy Steele FRR 32.29, 4 Revis Crowle ECH 32.52, 5 Anne Maskell TRC 32.56, 6 Jenny Almey CAC 34.02, 7 Beth Popperwell MH 34.04, 8 Joanna Wallis NRR 34.59, 9 Julia Pearce CAC 35.10, 10 Diane Roy ECH 35.13, 11 Louise Kelsey TT 36.01, 12 Emily Cook FRR 36.07, 13 Babs Bannon CAC 36.25, 14 Janine Kennedy FRR 36.46, 15 Claire Davidson ECG 37.10. Teams: Division 1: 1 Cornwall AC 384 points, 2 Newquay Road Runners 571 points, 3 Hayle Runners 804 points, 4 St Austell Running Club, 5 Tamar Trotters, 6 Newquay Road Runners 'B'. Division 2: 1 East Cornwall Harriers, 2 Truro Running Club, 3 Carn Runners.