Sixteen-year-old Conor Robinson (Cornwall Athletic Club) raised more than a few eyebrows by storming to victory in last week’s Cubert five mile road race, round five of the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored by Cornwall Glass and Glazing.

The torrential rain relented, providing perfect conditions on a warm, still evening, as the huge field of over 500 runners set off from the village centre.

Ollie Gibson (Newquay Road Runners) and Matt Pullen (Cornwall Athletic Club) reached the one-mile mark in a just over four minutes 30 seconds, which Pullen decided was just a little too quick as he eased off the pace, signalling a move from Robinson who upped his pace to join Gibson by the two-mile point. As the two leaders approached the relatively gentle climb towards the end of the first lap, the English Schools International, made his move, easing ahead of Gibson and once in front showed a determination beyond his years, holding a narrow but crucial advantage to the finish, winning by thirteen seconds. Gibson suffering more than his nearest challengers, was also caught and then passed by Pullen, but held on to third place, ten seconds ahead of a visiting runner, Aidan Adams (Leeds City) who outsprinted Newquay’s Kevin Toher in the finishing straight.

Cornwall’s Men’s team, a mixture of youth and experience, turned out in force, winning convincingly, with their six scoring runners all finishing in the top 14 places. The experience came from a formidable trio of Veterans, Tony Dunn (7th), team captain Dave Buzza (10th), on his return from injury, and Chris Harry (14th), with these three also making it a clean sweep of the top three places in their 45-49 age group. Steve Wherry, finished eighteenth and fourth veteran 45-49. Sadly, apart from in the two Cornish marathons, only Newquay Road Runners are able to offer any serious threat to the Cornwall Athletic Club team, as was the case at Cubert, with the host club finishing second, ahead of the Cornwall Athletic Club B team, leaving East Cornwall Harriers clear in fourth position.

With just six races of the 2010 Grand Prix series completed, Emma Stallard (Cornwall Athletic Club) is already half way to retaining her individual Grand Prix title, winning for the fourth time this year at Cubert, clocking a new personal best for five miles of 29 minutes 24 seconds. With her nearest challenger Lucy Kelvey (Newquay Road Runners) marshalling the route for the organising club, it was left to Revis Crowle (East Cornwall Harriers) to lead the pursuing ladies, which she did admirably, finishing second in 30 minutes 45 seconds, on her way to winning the Veterans 45-49 age group by almost two minutes. Most runners return from injury less fit than they were before the injury, but Kathryn Burgess (Cornwall Athletic Club) seems to have benefited from an enforced lack of training, storming around the course finishing third in 31 minutes 26 seconds and leading a procession of team mates across the line, with Jenny Almey (4th), Suzy Bosustow (5th) and Bethany Alston, making a welcome return from University, sixth. Cornwall Athletic Club Ladies can claim to have been even more dominant than the club’s Men’s team, not only winning the team race convincingly but also finishing second with their B team. Newquay Road Runners once again provided the closest opposition in third spot, ten points ahead of Mounts Bay Harriers.

Results - Men: 1 Conor Robinson CAC 25.53, 2 Matt Pullen CAC 26.06, 3 Ollie Gibson NRR 26.12, 4 Aidan Adams LC 26.22, 5 Kevin Toher NRR 26.23, 6 Pete Waumsley TT 26.31, 7 Tony Dunn CAC 26.38, 8 John Scott NRR 26.52, 9 Dan Nash ECH 26.53, 10 Dave Buzza CAC 26.57. Age Catgegories: Under 20: 1 Conor Robinson, 2 Dan Nash, 3 James Waldie CAC 27.15. Under 40: 1 Matt Pullen, 2 Ollie Gibson, 3 Aidan Adams. 40-44: 1 John Scott, 2 Alan Turnbull RR 27.11, 3 Adrian Ball CAC 28.15. 45-49: 1 Tony Dunn, 2 Dave Buzza, 3 Chris Harry CAC 27.37. 50-54: 1 Donald MacLaren STA 30.51, 2 Laurie Lee ARC 31.36, 3 Paul Nicholl BRIX 31.59. 55-59: 1 Steve Groombridge TAV 29.31, 2 Neville Witham CAC 30.16, 3 Malcolm Roberts STA 30.43. 60-64: 1 Tom Daniels WTC 31.53, 2 Doug Alsop STA 32.49, 3 Paul Wright NRR 33.01. 65-69: 1 Stewart Townend HR 35.40, 2 Clive Hibbert MBH 36.48, 3 Kevin O'Mahoney LRR 39.26. 70-74: 1 Norris Kington CAC 40.38, 2 Howard Haynes HR 41.14, 3 Peter Mander LRR 42.52. 75+: 1 Don Bristow HR 61.49. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 'A' 46 points, 2 Newquay Road Runners 77 points, 3 Cornwall AC 'B' 141 points, 4 East Cornwall Harriers 175 points, 5 St Austell Running Club 233 points, 6 Mounts Bay Harriers 237 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stallard CAC 29.24, 2 Revis Crowle ECH 30.45, 3 Kathryn Burgess CAC 31.26, 4 Jenny Almey CAC 31.40, 5 Suzy Bosustow CAC 32.06, 6 Bethany Alston CAC 32.18, 7 Sharon Coyne NRR 32.35, 8 Nancy Hill MBH 32.35, 9 Donna Raggett CAC 32.38, 10 Stephanie Martin NRR 32.43. Age Categories: Under 20: 1 Bethany Alston, 2 Charlotte Hurst CAC 35.53, 3 Jess Behennah ECH 38.42. Under 35: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Jenny Almey, 3 Alice Nocholas MBH 33.04. 35-39: 1 Suzy Bosustow, 2 Donna Raggett, 3 Juliet Knowles CAC 33.10. 40-44: 1 Emma Stallard, 2 Nancy Hill, 3 Stephanie Martin. 45-49: 1 Revis Crowle, 2 Sharon Coyne, 3 Caroline Chesterfield CAC 35.24. 50-54: 1 Philippa Baker LRR 40.30, 2 Carol Penberthy TL 40.47, 3 Alison Joslin TRC 42.20. 55-59: 1 Janet Watson FRR 40.14, 2 Sue Burgess LRR 44.06, 3 Sandy Jamieson CR 44.39. 60-64: 1 Mary Mullarkey ECH 39.57, 2 Susan Mellis STA 40.42, 3 Terry Marshall FRR 44.42. 65+: 1 Timothea Cardell HR 42.40, 2 Lisa Wright NRR 47.05, 3 Val Hawken NRR 56.52. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC 'A' 13 points, 2 Cornwall AC 'B' 43 points, 3 Newquay Road Runners 68 points, 4 Mounts Bay Harriers 78 points, 5 Hayle Runners 79 points, 6 East Cornwall Harriers 83 points.