MEMBERS of Bude RATs and Launceston Road Runners competed in the fifth race of the Cornish Grand Prix Race Series on Sunday, April 14.

They made the long trip down to Helston to tackle An Res Hellys, a ten-mile route which starts on Porthleven Road.

It then turns into Penrose Estate before crossing the beach at Loe Bar, then it's a climb up past Chyvarloe Farm to the top of the track. 

After a turn towards Gunwalloe, runners follow the road all the way up the hill before turning back to Helston past Culdrose. Finally there's a downhill to the finish at the Amenity Area.

Nine Launceston runners took part with Mitch Acres the fastest over the line in one hour, 22 minutes and six seconds.

The times were as follows: Mitch Acres – 1:22:06; Mike Gilbert – 1:23:26; Mark Simpson – 1:29:03; Mark Lancaster – 1:31:59; Mark Jones – 1:34:04; Dave Pickard – 1:44:27; Linda Pickard – 1:48:01; John Barnes – 1:49:07; Martin Venning – 1:52:42.

Bude to Helston is a near two-hour jaunt, but it didn’t stop Stephen Hutchinson and Annie Bover also competing in the event.

Stephen was done in 1:28:42 for third in the M70-74 category, while Annie’s 1:35:29 was enough for seventh in her age category.

The next race in the series is the Trevornick 10K in Newquay on Sunday, May 19.

On the same weekend, four members of the club headed up to Lancashire for the Manchester Marathon.

Starting near Old Trafford and taking in the city centre, Stretford, Sale, and Altrincham, there was plenty of musical support along the way from the Rock Choir, Cheshire Pop Choir and even Bowdon Rugby Club Male Voice Choir amongst others before returning for a fabulous finish.

Darren Evans (2:55:34) and Adam Holland (2:58:28) flew around in under three hours with Jason Shipton (4:29:38) and Jo Bailey (5:43:16) also running the 26.2-mile distance.