A huge field of over four hundred runners lined up for the Blaythorne 10-mile road race in Camborne last Sunday, round one of the 2009 Cornwall Grand Prix Series, sponsored for the first time by the new series sponsors Cornwall Glass and Glazing.

A severe hailstorm delayed the start by fifteen minutes but the runners were soon on their way in dry, cold weather and able to enjoy a hint of winter sunshine. By the two mile mark the Cornwall Athletic Club duo, Dave Buzza and Matt Pullen were leading the way alongside Harry Wiltshire (Tiverton Athletic Club), with the Mount’s Bay Harrier, Tim Drew, detached in fourth place. Wiltshire, the current World Student Games Triathlon champion, who finished fourth in the 2007 London Elite Triathlon, was certainly going to be a tough opponent for the local runners. Pullen, not yet fully recovered from his flu illness over Christmas and the New Year, was the first to drop back from the leading trio as the race approached the half way mark, leaving Buzza and Wiltshire forging ahead at the front. Little separated this pair through Leedstown (5 miles), Carnell Green (8 miles) and Barripper (9 miles) and only on the approach to the finish did the international triathlete manage to edge ahead of Buzza, crossing the line in 54 minutes 29 seconds, with the Cornwall Athletic Club team captain just four seconds behind. Pullen was never troubled for third place, with Drew running an isolated race almost from the start, coming home in fourth.

Cornwall Athletic Club began their defence of the Grand Prix title in the best possible manner, winning the team competition comfortably, with a low score of 58 points. Buzza and Pullen were strongly supported by Matt Lewis (8th), Shaun Tozer (10th), Steve Wherry (11th) and Phil Bolt, who showed the benefits of his recent marathon training, scoring in the ‘A’ team for the first time, as he finished in 24th position. Newquay Road Runners, missing their two marathon specialists, Shaun Milford and Ollie Gibson, were second (129 points), with Mount’s Bay Harriers (153 points) well ahead of the other chasing clubs in third place.

The 2008 Ladies Cornwall Grand Prix champion, Emma Stallard (Cornwall Athletic Club), lay down the gauntlet to her rivals storming to victory in the Ladies race. Pushing the pace from the start, Emma was well ahead of Anne Luke (Tamar Trotters) and Revis Crowle (East Cornwall Harriers) by the three mile point. The Cornwall Athletic Club Ladies captain, who is most at home on the road, piled on the pressure, continuing to open the gaps to Anne and Revis, who on the day were no match for Emma, as she crossed the line in a new personal best ten mile time of 62 minutes 47 seconds. Anne, the clear winner of the Veteran’s 50-54 category, was second, over two minutes ahead of Revis, who was also a Veteran age group winner in the 45-49 section.

Following in the footsteps of Cornwall AC’s men, the club’s Ladies team , who are also the defending Grand Prix champions, were in impressive winning form, with Emma joined by Juliet Knowles (4th), Kathryn Burgess (6th), who also set a new personal best time of 69 minutes 42 seconds and Sam Herridge (7th), clocking 70 minutes 47 seconds on her ten mile debut. Tamar Trotters travelled with a strong squad from Saltash and were rewarded with silver medals, with East Cornwall Harriers claiming the bronze.

RESULTS: Men: 1 Harry Wiltshire TAV 54.29, 2 Dave Buzza CAC 54.33, 3 Matt Pullen CAC 56.08, 4 Tim Drew MBH 56.39, 5 Martin Exley TAV 58.43, 6 Rob Burnham NRR 58.52, 7 Mark Heard LRR 59.06, 8 Matt Lewis CAC 59.09, 9 Michael Robinson MBH 59.47, 10 Shaun Tozer 1.00.58. Age Categories: Under 40: 1 Harry Wiltshire, 2 Matt Pullen, 3 Tim Drew. 40-44: 1 Mark Heard, 2 Steve Wherry CAC 1.01.08, 3 Steve Babb LRR 1.01.35. 45-49: 1 Dave Buzza, 2 Martin Exley, 3 Ben Hieber NRR 1.02.31. 50-54: 1 Martin Davis NRR 1.02.42, 2 John Parkes MBH 1.04.16, 3 Neville Witham CAC 1.04.18. 55-59: 1 Geoff Letchford MBH 1.04.23, 2 Malcolm Roberts STA 1.04.24, 3 Richard Luke TT 1.11.05. 60-64: 1 Pat Lockett NRR 1.06.40, 2 Brian Wiles LRR 1.08.00, 3 Paul Wright NRR 1.08.14. 65-69: 1 Stewart Townend HR 1.14.48, 2 Norris Kington CAC 1.25.03, 3 Mick Carroll TT 1.26.40. 70+: 1 Howard Haynes HR 1.27.12, 2 Jim Bennett TT 1.38.05. Teams: 1 Cornwall Athletic Club 58 points, 2 Newquay Road Runners 129 points, 3 Mounts Bay Harriers 153 points, 4 St Austell Running Club 200 points, 5 Cornwall Athletic Club ‘B’ 218 points, 6 Hayle Runners 233 points. Veteran Teams (Over 55) 1 Newquay Road Runners 40 points, 1 St Austell Running Club 42 points, 3 Mounts Bay Harriers 67 points.

Ladies: 1 Emma Stallard CAC 1.02.47, 2 Anne Luke TT 1.04.36, 3 Revis Crowle ECH 1.06.47, 4 Juliet Knowles CAC 1.07.22, 5 Diane Roy ECH 1.08.37, 6 Kathryn Burgess CAC 1.09.42, 7 Sam Herridge CAC 1.10.47, 8 Jayne Angilley HR 1.11.17, 9 Rachel Tresidder MBH 1.12.23, 10 Helen Ralph TT 1.13.09. Age Categories: Under 35: 1 Kathryn Burgess, 2 Sam Herridge, 3 Rachel Tresidde. 35-39: 1 Emma Stallard, 2 Juliet Knowles, 3 Jo Trestrail CR 1.16.15. 40-44: 1 Lindsay Gannon AJ 1.13.51, 2 Lesley Dobson NRR 1.17.30, 3 Liz Lusty STA 1.18.57. 45-49: 1 Revis Crowle, 2 Diane Roy, 3 Jayne Angilley. 50-54: 1 Anne Luke, 2 Jane Bremner TT 1.14.25, 3 Alison Joslin TRC 1.24.32. 55-59: 1 Sue Taylor MBH 1.18.01, 2 Sheila Newman TT 1.26.20, 3 Lynette Torr CAC 1.29.22. 60-64: 1 Mary Mullarkey ECH 1.26.22, 2 Marilyn Mitchell STA 1.28.51, 3 Lisa Wright NRR 1.33.16. 65+: 1 Timothea Cardell HR 1.31.46, 2 Pam Carroll TT 1.32.39. Teams: 1 Cornwall Athletic Club 18 points, 2 Tamar Trotters 52 points, 3 East Cornwall Harriers 76 points, 4 Hayle Runners 78 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 92 points, 6 St Austell Running Club 94 points. Veteran Teams (Over 55) 1 Carn Runners 33 points, 2 Falmouth Road Runners 56 points.