Hayle Runners climb to success at Truro Half Marathon

Hayle Runners continued their strong Cornwall Grand Prix campaign at the Truro Half Marathon on Sunday, September 13th, with men’s team victory, ladies’ team silver and 10 age-category prizes on a warm and demanding course.

Thirty-seven members of the Green Army joined a field of more than 500 runners for the 13th race of the 2026 Grand Prix season. Starting in Truro city centre, the route quickly leaves the roads and cobbles behind for the Newham Trail before taking competitors through the countryside surrounding Playing Place, Cowlands Creek and Porthkea.

The course is well known for its hills, and despite the best efforts of 517 runners, they showed little sign of flattening out this year. Temperatures also climbed quickly as the morning progressed, adding another challenge before runners eventually returned along the Newham Trail for the finish at Lemon Quay.

Emma Paull continued her excellent season by leading the Hayle ladies home and, after her last-minute arrival at the Treggy 7, this time gave herself the advantage of being present for the starting gun.

Paull finished in 1:29:37 to take first lady overall and win the Female 40-44 category, earning the race’s distinctive crown trophy in the process. She was joined by Lucy Paull, Tamara Kearney, Corinne Gerrard, Teigan Turner and Arianna Caddy as Hayle’s ladies secured second place behind host club Truro Running Club.

Hayle’s men went one better to claim first place in the team competition. Francis Malone-Lee led the club home in an impressive fifth place overall in 1:24:02, closely followed by Kyle Hampton in sixth. Daniel Millington, Amar Musneckis, Neil Hayhurst and Steven Wherry completed the victorious scoring team.

There was further success throughout the field as Hayle Runners collected 10 age-category prizes.

Alongside her overall victory, Paull won the Female 40-44 category, Corinne Gerrard took second place in the Female 55-59 category and Margaret Clark secured second in the Female 65-69s.

For the men, Francis Malone-Lee won the Male 45-49 category, with Neil Hayhurst taking third. Mark Williams and Ian Curnow finished second and third respectively in the Male 55-59 category, Steven Wherry won the Male 60-64s, Simon Blackburn took third in the Male 65-69 category and Chunky Penhaul claimed victory in the Male 75-79s.

The challenging course and warm conditions did not prevent several Hayle runners from improving on previous performances. David Guffick and Andrew Searle recorded course personal bests, while Richard Hoskins took an impressive 14 minutes off his previous time. Andrew James was close behind in the improvement stakes, knocking 13 minutes from his previous course best.

It was also a memorable morning for Ellen Regan, who completed her first half marathon and was greeted by plenty of support from her Hayle clubmates as she reached the finish at Lemon Quay.

“Truro has never been accused of putting on a flat half marathon, and despite more than 500 runners spending a morning repeatedly running over the hills, they don’t appear to have made much progress in wearing them down.

“The heat made an already challenging course even tougher, so to come away with a men’s team victory, ladies’ team silver and 10 age-category prizes was an excellent result. Emma’s season continues to be remarkable too, and we’re pleased to report that this week she managed to combine winning the race with arriving before it started.

“Just as importantly, there were some huge improvements further through the field and it was brilliant to see Ellen complete her first half marathon with plenty of green vests waiting for her at the finish.”

Richard Collett
Club Chairman

Hayle Runners would like to thank Truro Running Club, along with the marshals, volunteers and supporters involved in organising and supporting another successful Truro Half Marathon.